A female teacher died while two others were injured after the roof of a government school collapsed in Baddowal on Ferozepur road in Ludhiana on Wednesday.
The police said the incident took place when three teachers were sitting in the staff room of the Government Senior Secondary School Baddowal.
They were rushed to a private hospital where teacher Ravinder Kaur was declared brought dead, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepkaran Singh Toor. The condition of two others was stated to be out of danger. It was not immediately clear what caused the roof collapse.
Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains expressed grief over the death of Kaur. In his condolence message, the minister said with the death of Ravinder Kaur, her family has suffered irreparable loss, as well as the education department has also suffered the loss of her services regarding brightening the future of the children.
Commenting on the incident, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments’ “crude attempt to repackage a government school into a School of Eminence turned into a disaster.
“I pray for the safety of two teachers trapped below the collapsed roof of the school staff room and appeal to the AAP Punjab government not to put our teachers and students in danger to score political brownie points,” said on his X account.
Meanwhile, due to heavy rains and floods in the state, Punjab on Wednesday closed all its schools till Saturday. Making this announcement, education minister Bains said keeping in mind the floods caused by heavy rains in various districts of Punjab including Himachal Pradesh, the Punjab government has ordered with immediate effect in all government, aided, recognised and private schools of the state for safety reasons.
“Holidays are observed with immediate effect today (23 August 2023) till 26 August 2023 (Saturday),” he said.
Many areas in the state are in the grip of floods following the recent floods and the current heavy rain. Punjab has been put on high alert as inflow into the Bhakra and Pong dams increased on Wednesday. As the water level in both the Sutlej and Beas rivers continues to be high, the inflow into the Bhakra is 1.28 lakh cusecs and into the Pong dam is 1.58 lakh cusecs.