After receiving a message from the control room of the Deputy Commissioner’s office during the day, these schools were, however, forced to abide by the orders.

Talking to Newsline, Principal of BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, Paramjit Kaur said: “We have announced a holiday on Friday, while Saturday and Sunday are already holidays. It has rained heavily and the weather has now become very pleasant. But we will follow the DC’s instructions and open the school on July 13.”

A few schools had declared holiday for students till Class V but continued to function for senior students. These included Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, B R S Nagar, BCM Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, DAV Public School and GGN Public School among others.

Around noon, these schools received orders from the DC office to close down. On condition of anonymity, the principal of a school said: “It is ironical that the government ordered schools to shut down due to the ongoing power crisis. It rained today and even power cuts have reduced.”