The school once landed in soup two years ago after TOI flagged substance abuse and poor campus infrastructure
Liquor bottles strewn around campus grounds, salty domestic water, unclean drinking water filters and frequent mixing of sewage with Metrowater lines plague the Chennai corporation’s higher secondary school at Kalyanipuram, Vyasarpadi, falling under chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s Perambur constituency
Chennai: Liquor bottles strewn around campus grounds, salty domestic water, unclean drinking water filters and frequent mixing of sewage with Metrowater lines plague the Chennai corporation’s higher secondary school at Kalyanipuram, Vyasarpadi, falling under chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s Perambur constituency.The school, which has more than 300 students from Class I-XII, had once landed in soup two years ago after TOI flagged substance abuse and poor campus infrastructure. While the corporation renovated the campus and built a new building, residents say a lot more is left to be done.“The most frequently recurring problem is water. There are several complaints of water mixing with sewage lines on the higher secondary campus sump, causing the school to buy drinking water cans every now and then. Students often complain of poor taste of water,” said a worker. The worker, however, denied knowledge of alcohol consumption by children.When TOI visited the campus on Saturday, several liquor bottles were found strewn across the primary school. The water tasted salty and layers of dust had accumulated on the filter used to supply drinking water. The sump for the higher secondary school was locked, and staff confirmed contamination of water with sewage as recently as last week.
When TOI visited the campus on Saturday, several liquor bottles were found strewn across the primary school.
When TOI visited the campus on Saturday, several liquor bottles were found strewn across the primary school.
Principal Vijayalakshmi declined to respond to questions, and said complaints pertaining to sewage mixing with Metrowater lines had been “communicated through proper channels” and would be resolved. GCC joint commissioner (education) K Karpagam did not respond to calls.Metrowater assistant engineer Ashok said an inspection was carried out at the school on Friday, and a proposal would be made to get a new line to the school. “A few works under ‘Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam’ in the adjoining Kalyanipuram Street could have damaged some pipelines, resulting in the mixing of sewage. The area falls under the bus route road, and we will seek their permission to extend a line from the opposite street to the school to solve the issue,” he said.Resident-activists cite unregulated access to school grounds for the liquor menace. “The school compound has high walls, but the ground is open and several people use it to gather and play at odd hours. There is no one to monitor their movement. The school must ensure that no one apart from students are allowed to use the grounds,” said S Shanmugam, founder-secretary of NGO Aarvam, which functions opposite the school campus.
