THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an effort to overcome the protest by the protection committee, the Trivandrum Development Authority (Trida) has started negotiating with the authorities of Attakulangara Central School to reach an agreement.
Despite getting a favourable order from the HC, Trida has been unable to kick off construction activities of the proposed bus bay cum shopping complex on the school land because of stiff protests by the school authorities and the school protection committee.
Now, the Attakulangara school authorities have come up with fresh demands which include construction of a multi-storeyed office block with classrooms, lab facility, library, kitchen, dining room and toilet blocks. Head Master of the Central School, Suresh Babu, said that as per the Kerala Education Rules (KER), a high school should have 3 acres. As per documents, the school possesses 5.5 acres of land of which 2 acres was earmarked for Trida for the bus bay construction.
“The revenue authorities earmarked 2 acres for Trida without carrying out a comprehensive survey covering the school property. We have informed Trida, Revenue and PWD departments to earmark 3 acres for the school,” said Mr Suresh Babu.
Meanwhile, Trida chairman P K Venugopal said that discussions were on with the school authorities and the plan would be finalised in 3 or 4 days. “We will ensure that this project causes no disruption to the normal functioning of the school. Our plan is to execute all the works simultaneously to avoid any kind of delay. This would be executed giving 100 percent protection for the school,” said Mr Venugopal.
Health Minister V S Sivakumar has allotted Rs 12.20 lakh for buying a school bus for the smooth transportation of students. The decision comes in the wake of stiff protests from the school protection committee.
“The minister made this announcement because we threatened to protest. But when we approached his office, we were told that there were no funds for buying the bus. This is pure politics,” said Mr Saji Kumar, general secretary of the school protection committee. He said that the committee would take out a march to the Minister’s residence next week.
