Students walk amid garbage to reach schools

HYDERABAD: The surroundings of a few schools have garbage strewn either at the entrance, on the route or on the campus, posing a grave risk to students' health.

Garbage welcomes students every morning at the gates of Mufeed-Ul-Anam Boys High School at Etebar Chowk. Students walk into schools covering their noses, and some even their face. Parents too were seen reaching for a means to cover themselves their noses when they drop or pick their child up at school.

"This has been the case for more than a year now. When a parent once asked the school management about the poor sanitation, she was told that they had been speaking to the authorities but in vain," said a parent.

Many don't even prefer waiting at the school and take shelter in the shade of trees or buildings several metres away due to the stench. "Not only have the municipal authorities ignored our pleas, our neighbouring homes and colonies refuse to discard their waste elsewhere," said Achari, a teacher at the school.
"Things get worse during the monsoon when the dirty water gets mixed up with the waste and flows into the school compound," said Narsing Rao, a record assistant at the school. To fix the problem, Rama Devi, headmistress, built a ramp to help students; to stop the water from entering the campus, the school built a three-feet-high wall a few years ago but the authorities broke it up two years back.

Students of the Government Primary School opposite Nature Cure MMTS station in Ameerpet have to walk on a path that is flanked by all sorts of waste, to reach their school. There is no other route to their school.

GHMC officials were notified about the problem but they ignored the issue, parents claimed. "The municipal body has not been taking action to at least relocate the garbage collection point from here. They do not realise the damage it can potentially cause to children when they are constantly exposed to an unhygienic environment," said B. Padma Rao, a parent.

Several schools were found to have unsanitary conditions at or around the campus. Swami Dayanand School in Amberpet's Ramakrishnanagar is inside a tiny lane, and almost all of the students have to get out to the main road via the corner that is filled with garbage that hasn't been cleared in months, according to locals.

The corner of this lane also serves as the Amberpet Irani Cafe bus stop, where students stand for their bus to ferry them home. "Though all this trash is not exactly near our school gate, we wait here every evening and get dropped every morning. I can't even afford to stand elsewhere and run this far every time my bus comes, buses along this route (113 M, L, K AND 115, 71) are notorious for either not stopping often or being crowded," complained a student.