Residents sore as Palike 'plans' Indira canteen on school ground, chapel

A school playground at Binnypet and a chapel at Lakshman Rau Nagar in Neelasandra ward seem to be the latest victims of the government’s flagship project Indira Canteens, offering subsidised food to economically weaker sections.

Hundreds of children from eight different schools come to play at Government Kannada and English Model Primary School at Magadi Road 2nd cross in Binnypet, where the canteen is coming up. The Palike has felled an old tree and demolished a compound wall to build the canteen. Jayanthi, headmistress of the school, has refused to comment on the matter.

A nearby shopkeeper said, “The construction of the canteen all of a sudden was a surprise. Hundreds of children come here every day.” B Srinivas, vice-president, Gandhinagar ward unit of the BJP, said they were planning a protest on July 21 near the school, but the police refused permission to them. Srinivas said there was another place available for the canteen just two roads away, but the civic body chose the school playground to build the canteen.

“The civic body could have chosen the available space in Magadi Road market on the main road or near the horse carriage stand, which is lying unused for many years,” said Srinivas. He said he had complained to BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad in this regard on Wednesday.

The commissioner denied that the place identified in Binnypet was a playground. “I have personally visited the place. It is not part of the school playground. People used to dump garbage and urinate here,” said Prasad.

Meanwhile, the canteen project has come as a shocker to the Christian community of LR Nagar. Rumours were agog that a small chapel would make way for the Indira canteen.

P S Ambrose, managing trustee of St Mary’s Prayer Association Charitable Trust, who is also associated with BJP’s minority morcha, has written to the Opposition BJP leader in the BBMP Council Padmanabha Reddy, seeking his intervention to stop the demolition of the church.

The letter said nearly 450 Roman Catholic families pray at the chapel spread over 1,400 sq ft. He said there are talks that the chapel will either be demolished completely or would be acquired partially for the project. Another resident Raju said recently the Palike officials visited the place and talked about acquiring the ‘church land’. Neelasandra corporator G Balakrishnan rubbished the charges.

“These are baseless charges. We are not touching the church. These are rumours created by our adversaries to sabotage the welfare project. We are using a land next to the bridge in LR Nagar,” said Balakrishnan. BBMP officers too refuted the charge that the chapel land would be acquired for the project.