An incident has been bought to the notice where because of a tube well not being present on the premises of their institute, students of the Dimbiripankala Government Primary School in Odisha’s Gajapati district were reportedly forced to drink the dirty and polluted water from a stream.
Approximately 60 students from a number of different villages study in the Dimbiripankala Government Primary School. These villages include Dimbiripankala, Rajimera, Balipanka and Lundrisahi.
According to the recent reports, due to the absence of a proper potable water supply or even a hand pump in the school, the students had no other option but to drink from the water body. The students had to wash their plates and drink up the dirty and polluted water after having their mid-day-meal at the school.
As reported by Deccan Chronical, a student, Damanik Mallik revealed, "There is no hand-pump in our school. So, we are forced to clean our hands and plates in the river water."
The headmaster of the school, Timi Gamang, also admitted to the problem.
"We have had drinking water problems in our school since its inception. The students have no other options other than drinking water from the river and streams nearby," stated the headmaster.
"Despite our repeated requests, there has been no response from the government to set up a tube-well in the school. Drinking water continues to remain a perennial problem here since the school was set up in 2006. Our children go to the nearby stream to wash utensils after eating mid-day-meal. They even have to drink that water," revealed Mini Malabisoi, a parent.
It was also noted that, the school is not only dealing with problems related to drinking water but also facing challenges such as electricity supply issues and roof leakage.
In relation to these problems, the assistant block education officer (ABEO) Kuna Patra said, "The issues regarding the water, electricity and school building are under the jurisdiction of the Panchayat Raj department. We have already informed the BDO about the problem at the school. We will have to inform the higher authorities if the problem is not addressed."
