Construction of new building at Udinur Govt HSS in limbo; parents warn of public protest
Stalled due to a contractor’s death and bureaucratic apathy, a Kerala school building project remains abandoned. Consequently, students endure leaking roofs while parents threaten protests over the deteriorating, unfinished structure.
Stalled due to a contractor’s death and bureaucratic apathy, a Kerala school building project remains abandoned. Consequently, students endure leaking roofs while parents threaten protests over the deteriorating, unfinished structure.
Stalled due to a contractor’s death and bureaucratic apathy, a Kerala school building project remains abandoned. Consequently, students endure leaking roofs while parents threaten protests over the deteriorating, unfinished structure.
Trikaripur: For the past two years, students at the Udinur Government Higher Secondary School have been waiting for their new school building. However, dampening the hopes of students, teachers, and parents alike, the ₹3.9-crore project remains completely stalled.
Sanctioned under the state’s Public Education Rejuvenation Mission and funded by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the proposed facility was designed to house 14 classrooms, an administrative office, and modern sanitation amenities. Construction commenced in September 2024, only to grind to a halt by mid-2025.
The work was abandoned just as the ground-floor slab was laid and the first-floor work was about to begin. The deadlock was triggered by the untimely demise of the contractor. Once it became clear that the contractor's agency would not proceed, authorities should have settled the accounts, floated a fresh tender, and resumed construction.
Instead, bureaucratic apathy has left the project dead in the water. Exposed reinforcement bars laid for the first floor are now rusting away in the open, deterioration that threatens the building's structural integrity and poses a serious safety hazard.
Currently, Classes 9 and 10, along with the IT lab, operate out of a deteriorating building plagued by roof leaks; they were meant to be relocated as soon as the new block was ready. Yet, despite changing tenures, no concrete steps have been taken to revive the work.
Today, students are left dreaming of modern classrooms while sitting under leaking roofs. Parents have warned that if immediate measures are not taken to restart the half-finished work, they will be left with no choice but to launch a public protest.