Natural disaster: 861 school buildings damaged in earthquake, reveals department report

Secretary requested to disburse funds for repairs, says official

MULTAN: A Schools Education Department report states that 861 government school buildings in the province suffered damages from the October 26 earthquake.

The report has been referred to the SED secretary with a request for disbursement of funds to the affected schools, a department official told The Express Tribune on Sunday.

The report suggests that the highest number of school buildings damaged from the earthquake were in Attock district. It says 156 school buildings were damaged. Of these, eight buildings were not fit for use and required major repairs; 20 were partially damaged and 109 had developed cracks in some walls.



The report says 96 school buildings were damaged in Chiniot, 84 in Sargodha, 57 in Lahore, 53 in Chakwal, 44 in Hafizabad, 41 in Bhakkar, 39 in Mandi Bahauddin, 38 in Gujrat, 31 in Mianwali, 30 in Jhelum, 22 in Nankana Sahib, 20 each in Multan and Muzaffargarh, 18 in Dera Ghazi Khan, 18 in Rawalpindi, 14 in Rajanpur, 12 in Gujranwala, 10 in Faisalabad, eight in Sheikupura, four in Narowal, three in Lodhran, two in Kasur, and one in Bahawalpur.

In terms of damage, the report says 22 buildings were entirely unfit for use, 189 were partially damaged and 524 had developed cracks in some walls.

It says boundary wall of 57 school buildings had been collapsed and of 110 buildings partially damaged in the earthquake. It says roofs of 12 school buildings had caved in and of 72 partially damaged.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2015.