Hyderabad: A signature campaign that is gathering strength is a petition by Valerian Grammar school, Yapral, addressed to the Defence minister, requesting the government to ‘reopen all access roads in the Secunderabad Cantonment.’
All those affected have joined the signature campaign. The petitioner is Father Y. Bala Reddy, the principal of the school.
In the petition addressed to the Defence minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, Father Reddy has said, “Unfortunately the local military authorities have closed several roads in the Cantonment which were used for decades by children and their parents to reach the school. The road from Lakdawala Junction to Yapral and roads from Hakimpet, Risala Bazaar and RSI have been closed. These are all public roads which were open to the public for more than a century.”
He further added, “Because of this road closure, children from Bolarum, Hakimpet, Alwal, Lal Bazaar and Sainikpuri have to take longer routes to reach the school, which results in delays and much more expenditure. As a result, the student strength of our school has dropped drastically from 2200 to less than 800.”
Valerian Grammar School established in the year 1961, has appealed to the Defence chief, to take action to open the closed roads to the public so that local people can have easy access to their school.
“This will lead to an increase in student strength and we are confident that the school will be able to discharge its duties towards moulding the children into good and responsible citizens of tomorrow,” the principal reiterated.
The online signature campaign has got a lot of support from parents and residents of the affected colonies.
It is not just Valerian Grammar School but access roads to Indus School and Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan have also been shut.
“From a 10-minute walk or a 5-minute bicycle ride from Bolarum to Valerian Grammar School, today it takes more than an hour by bus since residents first have to take a bus from Bolarum to Lothkunta, or Lal Bazaar, then a bus from there to Yapral, and finally a 1 km walk to Valerian School from Yapral water tank.
A distance of 1 km has now exploded into a circuitous journey of 8-10 km. This may get aggravated if the Gough is also closed,” said Mr Sai Praveen, whose son studies at Valerian Grammar School.
