Dahisar school ground dug up for visarjan tank days before district sports meet

The 9,000 sq ft playground between two buildings at MPS Sakharam Tare Marg Municipal School in Dahisar has been excavated for an artificial Ganesh visarjan tank, days before its students are due to compete in the Mumbai Suburban District sports competition.

The school has about 2,500 students, and around 30% of the ground was already occupied by debris from construction work on one of its buildings. The district competition covers more than 70 disciplines, including football, cricket, basketball, lawn tennis and boxing. Physical training teacher Darshana Raut said qualifying students can receive extra marks in board exams.

School administrative officer Asmita Kosle said the tank was excavated without consulting the school and that complaints had been lodged. She cited safety concerns for children, saying a similar tank at the site last year took a month to be cleared and left a mosquito-infested area.

R-North ward officer Rohit Trivedi said the site had been among last year’s approved locations. He said students would be allotted a nearby ground for practice. Deputy municipal commissioner for education Prachi Jambhekar said the excavation area would have a 24-hour guard and be kept off limits to students. The ward officer said the school ground would be cleared within three days of Ganesh Utsav’s last day.