Mumbai: For a long time, schools run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have been complaining about scrap material such as defective desks, benches and other wooden and iron objects lying inside school buildings, eating up space and becoming fire hazards.
The education department of the civic body will now dispose of this waste to make schools clutter-free.
The material will be discarded as scrap and the amount recovered will be deposited in the municipal treasury. The same amount will be used to buy new desks and benches.
Principals have been incessantly complaining to the department about this problem. According to them, massive space is taken up by the waste and it poses a threat in terms of fire outbreaks. “Our common room is full of benches that are either broken or cannot be used. We told the civic body to take them and dump or store them somewhere else. The main problem is that our students run and play in the common room during the break and before or after school timings and these materials aren’t even covered so they can get hurt,” the principal of a Sion-based municipal school told this newspaper.
According to the officials, up till the academic year 2018-19, 3,962 quintals of irreparable wooden and iron material were disposed of and Rs 49,96,280 has been recovered, which has been deposited in the municipal treasury.
The same will be continued, in the coming academic year – 2019-20.
Moreover, in the current year, the civic body provided around 2,813 new desks and benches to secondary schools.
These benches are said to be high quality with attractive colours. The tender process for more 10,794 desks and benches for the primary section is under process, which will be completed in the next academic year.
A budgetary provision of Rs 7.87 crore (primary section) and Rs 2 crore (secondary section) has been allocated for the present academic year.
