Students forced to drink water from nallah sans tube well in this Odisha school

BHUBANESWAR: Students of Dimbiripankala Government Primary School in Odisha’s Gajapati district are reportedly forced to drink polluted water from a nearby stream due to absence of a tube-well on the premises of their institute.

As per reports, more than 60 students from Dimbiripankala, Rajimera, Balipanka and Lundrisahi villages study in Dimbiripankala Government Primary School. But, the school neither has a potable water supply nor a hand pump forcing the students to wash their plates and drink water from the same water body after having their mid-day-meal at the school.

A student, Damanik Mallik said, “There is no hand-pump in our school. So, we are forced to clean our hands and plates in the river water.”

“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,” said Mini Malabisoi, a parent.

Timi Gamang, headmaster of the school, 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,” said the headmaster.

Not only the drinking water, but the school grapples with many other issues like electricity supply and water leakage from the roof.

Asked about 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.”