Windstorm blows away roof of school building in Dailekh

A windstorm blew away the roof of a school building in Dailekh.

The windstorm, coupled with hailstones and rains, blew away the roof of the three—room building of Janakanlyan Higher Secondary School at Smartkort in Dhungeshwor Rural Municipality-2, Dailekh.

According to school principal Khagendra Bahadur Shahi, the windstorm blew away the roof of the three-room building.

He said that the teaching and learning activities in the school have been affected after the incident.

“The students of grade four and five were being taught in the same classroom damaged by the windstorm. One room was brought into use under the mid-day program,” he said.

Principal Shahi said that there is a shortage of classrooms in the school.

He said that the benches, desks, and other educational materials kept inside the room were damaged after a raging windstorm blew away the roof made up of galvanized zinc sheets of the school building.

The roofs of almost all the buildings of the school established in 1961 are old and made up of corrugated zinc sheets.

“Seven other buildings of the school are 25 to 30 years old. All these buildings have the roofs with galvanized zinc sheets,” Principal Shahi said, adding, “We always have to live in constant fear thinking that the strong wind would blow away the roofs of the school buildings.”

“The buildings having roofs with old corrugated zinc sheets are very unsafe for the children,” he further said.

The school has 10 buildings. Among them, only two are concrete.

None of the authorities have given interest in reconstructing the buildings, Principal Shahi said. There are around 600 students up to class 12.

The school is considered as one the best schools in the district in educational quality although it has weak physical infrastructure.