A newly constructed roof over the staircase of Janata High School in Rajnagar, Moulvibazar, has sagged and reportedly separated from the building’s main columns just 27 days after concrete was poured, raising serious safety concerns among teachers, students and local residents.
The incident reportedly occurred after workers removed the supporting framework from beneath the roof on Saturday afternoon. The Education Engineering Department had earlier issued a written notice ordering the suspension of the roof-casting work, but the contractor allegedly proceeded in defiance of the instruction.
Janata High School was established in 1998 in Medinimahal village under Munshibazar union of Rajnagar upazila. To address a shortage of classrooms, the authorities approved the construction of a three-room, single-storey building with a four-storey foundation at an estimated cost of nearly Tk1 crore under the Education Engineering Department.
The contract was awarded to Md Khalilur Rahman Enterprise, a construction firm based in Faridpur.
Allegations of irregularities in the construction work emerged from the outset. More recently, workers began casting the staircase roof without a supporting beam and allegedly used less reinforcement steel than required.
After the department became aware of the work, it issued a written directive to stop the roof casting. However, the contractor allegedly ignored the instruction and completed the work without informing the relevant officials.
Contractor Khalilur Rahman said the workers had cast the roof without his knowledge or informing the engineer, as they were in a hurry to return home.
“The engineer has issued a letter instructing us to demolish it. I will come to the site, remove the roof and cast it again,” he said.
Abdul Aziz, headteacher of Janata High School, said the roof had sagged because it was constructed using a cantilever design without a beam in the staircase section.
He said he had already informed the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) about the incident.
Joy Kapali, assistant engineer of the Education Engineering Department, said the roof had been cast in violation of construction rules without informing the department.
After identifying the defects during an inspection, officials issued a written notice directing the contractor to demolish the entire roof and reconstruct it, he added.
Rajnagar UNO Bipul Sikdar said he had contacted the department's engineer after learning about the incident.
“The contractor has been instructed to remove the risky roof, which was constructed in violation of government directives, and cast it again properly,” he said.
Meanwhile, local residents have demanded exemplary legal action against the contractor, arguing that simply rebuilding the defective roof would not be enough to address the alleged irregularities and disregard for official instructions.