SWABI, March 1: The district council Swabi has demanded that the education department lock all the dilapidated schools in order to avoid Mansabdar-like incident in which the roof of a school mosque had caved in.

Participating in the debate over decrepit schools both the treasury and opposition members said that a majority of the school buildings in the district were in bad shape and if the rainy weather continued for the next two or three days, the buildings of some schools might collapse.

They said that timely action by the education department was vital for avoiding loss of life and gory incidents like that of Mansabdar.

The local administration had closed down all the schools after the incident. The institutions were reopened after the rain stopped.

They demanded that the education department should conduct a survey and pinpoint the schools facing danger. Some schools had already been dec-lared dangerous by the communications department, they said.

The government should immediately start construction of the Mansabdar school and allocate funds for the purpose, the councillors said.

Only lip-service and tall claims cannot undo the damage, they said, and demanded concrete action.

An opposition member, Jehan Zeb Khan, told this correspondent that the education minister, who belonged to the district, must take interest in the construction of schools declared dangerous.

The members belonging to the opposition demanded in the council an equal distribution of development funds and said they should not be victimized.

They said they were also elected by the people who expected them to work for them.

Most members castigated the district accounts department and alleged that its staff had indulged in corruption and even pensioners were made to grease their palms.