Odisha probes drowning deaths; school faces flak

BHUBANESWAR: Amid poignant scenes, the four Class IX students, who drowned in a canal at Barang on Tuesday, were cremated here on Wednesday even as the state government began an administrative probe into the circumstances leading to their death.
It coincided with chief minister Naveen Patnaik announcing Rs 1 lakh ex-gratia each to the bereaved families.
Four of 14 students were washed away in the canal. While bodies of Abhijit Sabat, Babul Digal and Manas Nayak were recovered on Tuesday night, that of Pratap Routray was fished out on Wednesday morning.
Authorities of the school at Chandrasekharpur here faced flak after one of the survivors alleged that they visited the canal as the school had barred them from attending classes for 15 days from Saturday as punishment for some wrongdoing.
"The school should be blamed for the deaths as they did not allow the students to attend the classes, forcing them to go to the canal. We (guardians) had no knowledge about the punishment. The students, who had gone to the canal, told police that a schoolteacher prevented them from attending the class for their mischief," said Pankaj Nayak, uncle of Manas. "It was the responsibility of the school to bring it to our notice," Nayak said.
School and mass education minister Debi Mishra, who along with MLA Priyadarshi Mishra, visited the school on Wednesday, said action will be taken against the school if the charges are found to be true. "Khurda sub-collector and district education officer will submit their joint inquiry report on Thursday," Mishra said. Headmistress of the school Bijaylaxmi Mohanty denied the charges. "We are shocked by the tragedy. We had not asked any student not to attend classes," she said.
Earlier in the day, senior government officers visited the school and spoke to teachers, students and guardians. A pall of gloom hung over the Government High School at Rail Vihar as the students mourned the tragic deaths of their friends. The school was declared closed for a day.