SHILLONG: Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma reviewed the damages that the Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Girls Higher Secondary school in Shillong suffered in a devastating fire that broke out in the wee hours of Sunday (May 21).
The Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Girls Higher Secondary school in Shillong, with British-era building was reduced to ashes in the fire.
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After reviewing the damages to the school, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma said that he was “devastated to see the ruins from the fire incident at Khasi Jaiñtia Presbyterian Girls’ Hr. Sec. School” in Shillong.
“Rs 1 crore will be given through the Chief Minister’s Special Development Fund to rebuild the school,” announced Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma.
The Meghalaya chief minister also interacted with the students of the school and other members of the local community during his inspection visit.
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“Relieved that nobody was hurt in the incident,” said the Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma.
He added: “The school has a very special connect with the community and stood tall for over 130 years. This is a very personal loss to the people.”
Also read: Meghalaya: 131-year-old British-era girls’ school gutted in massive fire in Shillong
The woodwork frame of the school building, built in the late 1800s, aided the fire to spread fast.
Initial reports stated that the fire broke out at around 2 am, the Meghalaya police informed.
The boarders residing in the adjacent building were all safe and have been temporarily shifted to the community hall of Mission Compound locality, officials said.
Police said fire tenders were pressed into service to bring the fire under control.
Being the only school for girls in the Northeast over a century ago, the KJP Girls’ Higher Secondary School in Shillong, Meghalaya celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2017.
The school was an offshoot of an erstwhile school established by the Welsh missionaries at Nongsawlia village in Sohra (erstwhile Cherrapunjee), where it was converted into a proper school in 1864.
The school became an exclusive school for girls in 1892 when a missionary of the Welsh Presbyterian Mission Society took over the administration of the school.