Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the State Disaster Management Authority to submit a detailed report within two weeks on all school and hospital buildings requiring repair or demolition, following a series of structural failures and safety incidents. The order, issued during a high-level meeting on Tuesday, also mandates safety inspections of unaided school buildings to prevent further tragedies.

The directive comes in the wake of recent accidents, including the death of 52-year-old Radha at Kottayam Medical College on July 14, 2025, when a toilet complex collapsed, and the electrocution of 13-year-old Ananthu at an aided school in Kollam on July 20.

Additionally, a roof collapse at a government upper primary school in Karthikappally, Alappuzha, on July 28, narrowly avoided casualties as it occurred on a Sunday. These incidents have raised alarms over the state’s aging infrastructure, with a 2024 Public Works Department report identifying 1,124 government buildings as unsafe.

Vijayan instructed officials to categorize buildings needing repairs or demolition separately, emphasizing that demolitions should occur on holidays to minimize disruption. Local bodies, parent-teacher associations, and the education department are tasked with arranging alternative spaces for classes until new structures are built.

The meeting, attended by Ministers K Rajan, K N Balagopal, V Sivankutty, P A Mohamed Riyas, Veena George, Chief Secretary Jayathilak, and district collectors, also approved the development of a software platform to track unsafe public buildings and the establishment of a robust electrical safety inspection mechanism.

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