NCP leader's school gobbles up open space, and claims it is protecting it

Even as this Andheri school teaches its students environmental science, just outside the walls of the classroom, it is setting a completely different example - replacing half an acre of trees with concrete and paver blocks, just so it can make a free parking lot for the school buses. What's worse, the construction is going on right next to the Versova mangroves, which is now at risk of shrinking due to the concretisation.

A local resident sent this 2004 picture of the plot, which shows the presence of lots of trees at the spot

Residents of Sardar Vallabhai Patel Nagar in Andheri West have alleged that Janki Devi Public School has completely usurped the stretch of land behind the school compound, and won't even allow the public any access, even though it is open land. However, the school authorities said that far from encroaching upon the land, they were ensuring no one else could encroach there, and they even had permission from MHADA.

Levelled stretch behind Janki Devi Public School with a road and parking lot. Residents said the nearby mangroves are also now under threat. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar

Locals provided pictures of the area from 2004 to and pointed out that there were several trees at the plot that had since disappeared. Instead of trees, now dozens of buses stand on the stretch, which has been concretised. Questioned about this, the school claimed they were simply concretising the area to resolve the dust problem.

Not only have all the trees been wiped out (in the circled area), but the school is now laying concrete and paver blocks all over the land to build a parking lot for buses there. This will also put the nearby mangroves at risk

One of the school's trustees is NCP Leader Narendra Varma, and locals claim he is using his political clout to grab the land for the school.

A resident from the Shiv Kutir Building said, "There were trees and mangroves in the MHADA plot of which Varma is the official caretaker, but in last 10-15 years they have all been cleared, and the school is now parking its buses there."

Locals claimed that in 2003, the school even installed a gate to keep people out of the plot, but after the residents registered a complaint at the local ward office, the gate was demolished. "We have been following this issue for over 10 years, and over the years, the mangroves and trees that were there on this plot have been wiped out. The NCP leader who owns the school is encroaching upon the MHADA plot in the name of being a caretaker. It's an open space, so people should be allowed to enter, but he doesn't allow any of the local residents to enter the plot where he is illegally parking his school buses," alleged Seema Sahu, a resident of a nearby building.

Mangroves at risk
Locals from the nearby residential societies - Ankita building, Sweet Home building and Shiv Kutir building -teamed up with the Friends of Environment Community, and have been fighting this issue for over a decade. Now, they are concerned that the school is going to threaten the nearby mangroves as well.

Among the activists is BJP Mumbai secretary Vivekanand Gupta, who said, "It is a clear violation of a 2006 order by the high court that states that no construction can be done within 50 metres of mangroves. Here, the road is literally touching the mangroves. The school is using public land for personal benefit. Two days ago, I visited the spot and informed the police, but no action was taken."