School too near Raj Bhavan - Police halt construction citing security worry

An under-construction block of the school (left) and the path (right) to the
Raj Bhavan in Darjeeling.Picture by Suman Tamang

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Sept 4: The Darjeeling district administration has ordered a halt to reconstruction of Ramkrishna Siksha Parishad Higher Secondary School, saying the new buildings compromised the security of Raj Bhavan.

The students of the government school had planned to organise a rally at the grounds of Darjeeling Government High School at 1.30pm today to protest the order, but the programme was called off because of incessant rain in the morning.

Navin P. Rai, the teacher in charge of the school, said: "Since many students had got wet in the morning, we decided to close the school at 10.30am. We have not yet decided on the new date for protest."

Four blocks with three floors each were being built for the new school. The construction came to a halt after Darjeeling police and the district administration issued notices to stop the work until a hearing was conducted.

The notice issued on August 26 by Darjeeling police states: "Two of the buildings are adjacent to the Mall Road opposite to the Raj Bhawan complex. The height of these buildings is above Mall Road and seriously compromise the security of the Raj Bhawan."

The police have sought the demolition of the top floors of two blocks.

"Keeping the sensitive nature of the government buildings, including Raj Bhawan, you are requested to immediately take up the matter with the appropriate authorities to ensure demolition of the top floors of the building near the Mall Road," the notice further states.

The road near the school was previously known as Mall Road and the current name is Birch Hill Road.

Asked about the new construction, Rai said: "The present structure is similar to the old school structure."

After the police's complaint, the subdivisional officer's office in Darjeeling issued a notice to the school to stop the work and to appear for a hearing on September 7 to verify the construction details. The SDO's office issued stop-work notices to four other under-construction buildings also in Darjeeling. The notices were issued, the SDO office said, as doubts arose over their legality.

Amit P. Javalgi, the superintendent of police, Darjeeling, said: "There is no question of not allowing the construction of a school building. However, our only concern is from the security point of view as the school is separated from the Raj Bhavan only by a road. The issue can be amicably settled with some modification to the structure."

The GTA is reconstructing Ram Krishna Siksha Parishad Higher Secondary School as a model institution with a library and modern facilities and has allocated a Rs 6 crore for the project. The work started in March and is to be completed by the year-end. The 1,200 students of the school are now studying in makeshift structures at the Darjeeling Government High School ground.

The new blocks are coming up at the same spot where the old buildings of the school had stood.

Jyoti Kumar Rai, elected GTA Sabha member, said: "It is unfortunate that while the chief minister is talking about an educational hub in Kurseong, the district administration is not allowing the construction of a school. The school's plan has been duly passed by Darjeeling municipality and the height is also below the permissible level of 11.5m."

Navin P. Rai said: "We can do nothing but only appeal to all concerned to help complete the construction as early as possible. We are holding classes in makeshift classrooms and facing lot of problems, especially during the rains."

Ram Krishna Siksha Parishad Higher Secondary School, which has classes till XII, is a well-known school in town. It was established by Swami Prabhudananda. The school was recognised in 1944.