Falebas, August 16. Thapathana Secondary School, located in Falebas municipality ward number 2, has fallen victim to the devastating consequences of incessant rain-induced landslides.

While addressing the situation, Bishnu Prasad Sharma, the school’s headmaster, revealed that the school’s premises had witnessed a heartbreaking incident. A landslide originating approximately 50 meters above the school has tragically buried two of its buildings under debris.

The impact of the landslide didn’t spare even the interior of the school. Three rooms were completely engulfed by the landslide, prompting authorities to relocate the teaching and learning activities to the remaining eight rooms within the school.

The school’s infrastructure had already been weakened earlier when a landslide struck on July 1. However, the situation took a turn for the worse as another landslide hit the same area on August 7, 2023, causing additional damage and raising serious safety concerns.

The gradual encroachment of the landslide onto the school’s premises has forced a difficult decision upon the administration. “Given the present circumstances, accommodating students in all eight rooms is untenable,” expressed Sharma.

This educational institution, catering to students from primary to grade eight, now enrolls approximately 240 students. Sharma’s concerns extend to the unpredictable nature of landslides, with the potential to strike anytime and pose a significant threat to the school. Consequently, the administration has been compelled to merge students from grades 2-3 into a consolidated location.

Santosh Rijal, a teacher at the School, shed light on an additional cause of the damage. He attributed the destruction of two-three classrooms to the deteriorating edge of the newly-constructed Naudanda-Karkineta-Falebas-Jaimuni road.