Click to play videoKumbhakonam (Tamil Nadu): An unattended stove under thatched roof, cramped, unventilated classrooms, locked gates and one narrow stairway - when the fire broke out at a school in Kubhakonam’s Saraswati English Medium School in Tamil Nadu, there was just no way out for 95 children trapped inside.
Three years after the schoolkids were burnt to death, memories of the nightmare still haunt the town. The school has been shut and the school authorities are determined that no more lives will be lost due to lack of proper precautions.
“We need to get a certificate from the fire department every year. We have fire extinguishers on every verandah we teach our students the fire drill as well,” says headmaster of Town High school P.Soundararajan.
But what the authorities won't admit on camera is the fact that government schools in Kumbokonam are still ill-equipped to deal with disasters.
All schools have buckets filled with sand to counter fires and emergency exits. Students are also taught basic evacuation drill. But the latest fire fighting equipments are simply out of their reach.
Life has moved on, but there's little relief for those who lost their children in the tragedy. A case of negligence filed against the teacher at the Saraswati English Medium School is still pending in the sessions court.
“We protested in Thanjavur outside the court but nothing happened. They made us sit for half-an-hour and sent us back,” says the mother of a victim, Mariamma.
Mariamma's pain may be mitigated to an extent once the judgment is passed, but her loss and that of 90 other families are too personal and too large to be ever compensated.
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