Students gherao Kalyan civic chief for demolishing illegal school building

KALYAN: Students, teachers and officials of the Samta Sarvajanik High School on Friday gheraoed KDMC chief E Ravindran outside the municipal headquarters to protest against the hasty demolition of their illegal school building without allowing them time to remove important records or set up alternative arrangements.
Over 400 students could not take their exams on Friday as demolition of the 27year-old school at Khadegolivali in Kalyan (East) that began on Thursday without prior intimation continued.Upset, they joined the others in the protest, demanding that the demolition be halted.
“There are a lot of illegal things in the city but we do not understand why KDMC is demolishing our school only,“ said Arman Singh, a student.
Though KDMC refused to stop the demolition on Friday, after the furore, Ravindran ordered that the students be accommodated in the Jijabai school in the same locality.
The Samta Sarvjanik High School runs Hindiand Marathi-medium classes from Class I to SSC. The school started in May 1990 and later got government grant for students up to Class VII.
The school management has decided to move Bombay high court. The countdown for the school started six months ago when RTI activist Indramani Upadhyay approached KDMC against it, claiming it had built a new building without permission.When KDMC did not take action, he approached the Lokayukt and the Kalyan sessions court filing a caveat that no stay should be given in case the school moved the court.
Finally , the KDMC was spurred into hasty action when Upadhyay sent a legal notice on Thursday, saying if the civic body did not act he would demand legal action against its officers.
Despite several attempts, Ravindran could not be contacted.