Power lines over 63 Lucknow schools to be shifted

The Basic Education Department has paid ₹78.48 lakh to Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) for the work, which is expected to be completed soon, said LESA chief engineer V.P. Singh.

: For thousands of children studying in 63 government primary schools in Lucknow, a potential danger overhead is finally being removed. Eleven-kV high-tension power lines passing over or close to the school premises are being shifted, with work already completed at 36 schools and set to resume at the remaining 27 on Friday.

The figure was 9,009 at the beginning of the current financial year, with lines removed from 5,119 schools since then. (For representation only)

The Basic Education Department has paid ₹78.48 lakh to Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) for the work, which is expected to be completed soon, said LESA chief engineer V.P. Singh.

The affected schools are spread across Ratiamau, Gosainganj, Ahladpur, Rajpur, Indora, Mishripur, Bargadi, Atraura, BKT, Mahipatmau, Ahmadpur, Azmat Ali, Pachauri, Phullaur, Ram Nagar, Mallhaur and Mal, among other areas.

The Lucknow drive is part of a larger state-wide effort to remove electrical hazards from government schools. As of now, 3,890 government primary and upper-primary schools across Uttar Pradesh still have high-tension lines passing over their buildings or premises. The figure was 9,009 at the beginning of the current financial year, with lines removed from 5,119 schools since then.

The issue has a serious precedent. On July 15, 2019, an 11-kV wire fell on a government primary school in Utraula, Balrampur, injuring 55 children. The National Human Rights Commission subsequently took suo motu cognisance of the incident and sought a report from the state government and Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam.

The scale of the problem varies sharply across districts. Prayagraj has the highest number of affected schools at 270, followed by Jaunpur with 267 and Basti with 227.