Kupwara: The lawn of SSA primary school at Astan Mohalla, Kulangam in this north Kashmir district has become a dumping site for garbage and animal excreta, posing a grave threat to health of students and teachers. The health centre and a Panchayat house are also located nearby.
The teachers and students blamed the local residents of turning the lawn into a dumping site for garbage and animal dung, saying it has severely affected their health. The patients coming through the pasture to the nearby health centre also voice the same concern.
Talking to INS, the school authorities said the district administration has failed to implement the Swachh Bharat mission (cleanliness drive).
“Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a failed mission, that too at primary school level where kids are enrolled,” they said. “Health is wealth for the society.”
The students said the foul smell emanating from the lawn has taken a heavy toll on their health and that many cases of infections have been witnessed in past.
The teachers said the students now have no playground to play as the surrounding has been turned into a garbage dumping site.
The school authorities said they had several times written to the district administration to look into the matter but nothing has been done so far. “We and our students continue to suffer,” they said.
“We even wrote to chief education officer (CEO) and concerned zonal education officer (ZEO) regarding the matter but no action was taken so far,” the teachers added.
“We also notified the locals several times to remove the animal dung and stop making the school ‘playground’ a dumping site but to no avail.”
The school authorities and students have urged the authorities to look into the matter.
