Parents, relatives and residents blocked the Amballur-Natrampalli High Road at Chikkanna Kuppam village near Vaniyambadi on Wednesday, demanding action against the headmistress of the Government High School in the village where two girl students drowned in an open pit, and the contractor involved in the project.
Following the incident, Ambalur police registered cases against four persons - the headmistress, panchayat secretary, VAO and the private contractor, under section 304a of IPC (Causing death by negligence).
The police said around 10 a.m. a large number of residents in the village blocked the stretch and seized a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus demanding action against the school authorities and K. Balaji, a private contractor. “We lost our children due to the carelessness of school authorities and the contractor who failed to cover the open pit with barricades. They should be punished,” said S. Gopal, a resident.
On Tuesday evening when a student informed the parents of V. Rajalakshmi, 14, and G. Monika, 10, that they slipped into the 12-ft-deep open pit when they were playing along with her in the playground of the school. Along with neighbours, parents took the students from the pit and shifted them to the Government Taluk Hospital in Vaniyambadi town, around 7 km from the village. However, doctors at the hospital said that two students were brought dead.
Agitated residents and parents blocked the stretch on Wednesday. As traffic was hit on the route, the police and revenue officials, led by K. Shanthi, Tasildar, Vaniyambadi, pacified the residents and assured them that necessary action would be taken against those involved in the incident.
Initial inquiry by the police revealed that the private contractor dug a huge pit on the campus a month ago for laying a road to connect the school and the main road. Mud from the pit was used to level the new road before it was laid with bitumen. The open pit was abandoned and got filled up due to the recent rains.
Tirupattur Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian told The Hindu that K. Munisubburayan, Chief Educational Officer (CEO), inspected the school campus and found the open pit located on the land that was gifted to the school by the public. After the incident, he has given instructions to school authorities, panchayat heads and revenue officials in the district to take safety measures against open pits, drains and abandoned wells ahead of northeast monsoon.
