School amenities shrunk for commercial complex

By C Shivakumar

Chennai:



Two hundred and fifty students of Pallavaram Primary School will now
have to live with less space to play as Pallavaram Municipality has
taken a portion of their land for building a commercial complex.



The commercial complex has been built despite the opposition from the
school authorities who feel it will pose difficulty for the students
to access the school.



Interestingly, now students have to share part of their campus with 18
shopping establishments as Pallavaram Municipality constructed a
commercial complex near the entrance of the school by demolishing the
gate.



The New Pallavaram Municipal Commissioner Ramamoorthy, who took charge
a month ago, said that the complex has been built to accommodate nine
shops that were removed to facilitate expansion of the GST road. “The
land belongs to the municipality and hence we are building the
commercial complex,” he said.



The commissioner said that only five feet of the school land was being
taken from the school, as opposed to the ten feet that has been
alleged. However, Express discovered that 18 shops and not nine shops,
as explained by the commissioner, were being built.



Sources said that this move would put a stress on the atmosphere in
the school. It is learnt that the school initially had opposed the
move to build an additional floor to accommodate nine more shops but
officials did not pay any heed and went ahead with the construction.



“We are not against building the nine shops which had been demolished
due to Highway works. But our concern is the construction of an
additional floor with nine more shops. This will prove to be a hurdle
to the educational institution,” a source said on condition of
anonymity.



A parent said that the school now lacks visibility from the main road,
while the play ground has also shrunk. It is learnt that the school’s
entrance gate is likely to be shifted to other part of the campus.



Responding to the queries, the municipal commissioner said that debris
was being removed from the playground, while gate would be
built at the school’s entrance. “We have also built two toilets and
are planning to have four smart classes,” he said.



It is learnt that the damaged gate has been removed and a 10 feet high
gate is being proposed.The earth work has been completed for
installing the gate besides concrete work will be completed in 10 days
and the gate will be fixed, sources added