Is this where we send our kids?

BANGALORE: The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) run schools are a lifeline to thousands of families all across the city who can’t afford education from private schools. Though there are no complaints with the running of one such school in Gangenahalli, the deteriorating state of the surroundings of the school is a matter of concern for many residents and parents.BBMP schools across Bangalore have been known for the various schemes they come up with, mid-day meal programmes and quality education. While the campus of this school has been planted with several flowering plants giving it a very homely feel, the outside has been left in a state of neglect for the past few months. Steel rods lay unattended too. The wilderness around hasn’t been taken care of. Stray dogs pose a threat to the kids who study here. Garbage is an additional issue they have to deal with. The absence of signals on the main road in front of the school is also a cause of worry. Residents question the safety of their children as they, in routine fashion, use the same roads.  Despite the establishment of the school several decades ago, the maintenance of the land hasn’t improved one bit say the people living in the proximity of the school. A parent of a kid who studies in the school, on the condition of anonymity, said, “What probably scares me the most is the jeopardy we are putting our children’s health in. With talks about diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya being just around the corner, I do not see why an effort hasn’t been done by the authorities to ensure safety.”Located just off the main road, the school also instills fear in the hearts of the people about how safe their kids are, without policemen patrolling the area. Signals aren’t installed on the street. Vignesh, a shop owner near the school, said, “The road receives a substantial amount of traffic. Some parents pick up their kids but most of the time, the children walk home alone. I often see the children struggling to cross the road when the school is let off. ” The high school has a strength of around 350 students presently.The authorities say that the problem lies in the fact that the area in front of the school doesn’t belong to them. They further add that the cause for all the problems is this particular piece of land. It is a controversial land with pending cases on it. The local corporator of the locality, M Nagaraja, said, “We try our best to ensure that the vicinity of the school is kept clean. But as the land doesn’t belong to us, there is not much we can do.” He further added that no plans to instate signals in front of the school were planned. The residents ask for how long will they have to live in fear of not knowing what they are sending their children to.