School violates students’ trust

Construction of the school, which is expected to house 3,500 students, began on January 21, 1998, without any approvals from the civic Building Proposals Department. Though the corporation’s R’ South Ward Office served a stop-work notice on the Swami Vivekanand Education Trust in March, work is now nearing completion.

At the first instance of trouble, the management hastilysubmitted its plans for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) approval on March 16. The BMC subsequently issued an Intimation of Disapproval (IoD) only last week though five storeys of one wing have already been built. Construction of the third storey of the second wing is now under way.

The IoD makes it mandatory for the school management to obtain a commencement certificate under Section 44/69(I)(a) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, but none has been issued so far.

The management has also come under fire from the Dadarkar family, who has claimed ownership of the land. Arvind Kashinath Dadarkar and his two brothers served a legal notice dated April 7, 1998, on the management demanding that the premises be vacated and the structure demolished. Sources say former Shiv Sena corporator, Mahadev Mote, has also intervened.

The Brashtachar Nirmoolan Sangathana (BNS), an organisation fighting illegal constructions in Mumbai, has also filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Courtagainst the R’ South Ward Officer P Subramaniam and the school management seeking the structure’s demolition.

Alleging collusion with BMC officials, BNS President, Manav Joshi, says: “Such illegal constructions are not monitored by any authority, giving builders a free hand to commit malpractices. Faulty construction and substandard building material will endanger the lives of thousands of students,” Joshi argues.

Meanwhile, the school management is unmoved. Despite the avalanche of problems, it has promised gullible parents and students that the school, which will have classes from nursery to Std X, will open in June, 1998. It has already admitted about 1,200 students, recovering Rs 20,000 as deposit per student.

Says a trustee Yogesh Patel: “By the grace of God, everything will work out well. We have already got the IoD and will surely get the plans approved soon. We have also paid a penalty of over Rs 3 lakh to the BMC as construction was carried out before the plans were approved.”

“Thewhole project is estimated to cost about Rs 7 crore and with the mounting burden of interest on our investments, it was impossible for us to wait till the plans were approved. However, the building is being constructed strictly as per BMC guidelines for schools and we are using the best quality material available. Hopefully, we shall inaugurate the school at the beginning of the next academic year,” Patel adds. However, he denies taking deposits from all the students. Calling the deposit an interest-free’ investment, Patel says, “We never take donations. The amount will be returned when the student graduates from school. We have also admitted children of widows of personnel of the armed forces without taking any deposit.”

The property was given on a lease of 999 years, 20 years ago by the late Kashinath Dadarkar, the original owner, to one Nathalal Parekh. Parekh later sold the land to Neo Builders, but Dadarkar was not paid anything as per the lease agreement. After various allegedly illegaltransactions, the land was finally purchased by the Swami Vivekanand Education Trust. However, the records still show the names of Dadarkars as the original owners.