The Hindu : Karnataka News : School ground turns garbage dump

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Friday, Mar 28, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

School ground turns garbage dump

Chitra V. Ramani

Sewerage line gets clogged and sewage flows onto the playground often

Anti-social elements are posing a problem
The school has a student strength of more than 2,000

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Neglected: Children playing in the playground of the Government Urdu Primary School at D.J. Halli.

Bangalore: The Government Urdu School in D.J. Halli has good student strength and about 35 teachers. It even has a computer lab that actually functions. However, the scene outside the school is a complete contrast: uneven playground with mounds of garbage strewn around, poor access roads and a sewerage line that runs right across the playground.

As if these were not enough, the teachers and students have to deal with the problems posed by anti-social elements almost on a daily basis. There are more than 1,500 students studying in the primary school alone, while the student strength in the high school, which is on the same campus, is over 500.

The Hindu team visited the school on Sunday to find children playing in the playground amidst garbage. Ghousia Banu, headmistress of the primary school, said that the land on which the schools have been constructed was once a tank. “When the tank dried up, the authorities just filled it and did not bother to level it. The zilla panchayat built the school building. We now have 10 rooms and seven toilets,” she said.

Ms. Banu said that people living in the slums around the school dump garbage in the school playground. “The drainage line has now been covered. However, since the line is connected to several houses in the area, it gets clogged and overflows onto the playground often.”

She added that since the area does not have any other playground, children from the nearby localities and anti-social elements freely use the playground, causing a lot of disturbance to the school. “The anti-social elements peddle drugs, gamble and even tease the girl students. Most of our time is spent trying to protect our students from these people,” she said.

When contacted, T.M. Vijay Bhaskar, Secretary, Department of Primary and Secondary Education, maintained that the department had allotted money to the school to raise the compound wall recently so as to prevent people from dumping garbage. “It is a larger civic issue. The department will get in touch with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and urge it to take up garbage collection.” “I have been regularly visiting the school since 2002. A lot of improvements have happened since. The department is keen on making D.J. Halli school a model school,” he added.

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