No water in this BBMP school

By Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: If they want to go to the toilet, students and teachers at the BBMP school in Jogupalya must drag a bucket of water across the compound to the toilet. Otherwise, they have to use a public toilet outside or go home. The BBMP is trying desperately to include Namma Bengaluru in the list of the country’s cleanest cities. BBMP schools, however, lack even basic amenities like clean toilets, safe buildings and running water. Child rights’ activist Nagasimha Rao calls it a “violation of the Child Protection Policy.” The school has 120 students and 10 teachers but running water supply has been a struggle for nearly two weeks, since the electrical pump stopped working.

The sump is full but water can’t be pumped into the overhead tanks. “All the tanks are empty and there is no water,” says a ninth grade student. A teacher at the school told News Trail that the school management has complained to the contractor who installed the motor. “He refused to fix the problem, saying repairs aren’t his job.” The contractor, Chetan, simply feigns ignorance, “Nobody told me about the electrical pump not working. And it isn’t my responsibility to maintain it,” he said.

“The pump isn’t even meant to supply water to the toilet block. It is for the new building,” he added. However, on being told that the new building doesn’t have water either, he promised to send in an electrician to do the repairs.The BBMP Special Commissioner for Education, Reddy Shankar Babu Bagepalli, says he will summon both the headmaster and the contractor. “I will direct them to fix the problem without any delay, for the benefit of students and teaching staff,” he said.

Nagasimha G Rao of the Child Rights Trust says children should not be made to carry water to toilets. “It is just exploitation and a violation of the Child Protection Policy,” he remarks. “The school teachers should have volunteers available to fix the problem.