Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim has stepped in to resolve the stand-off between a missionary school in Behala and the local councillor that had led to suspension of construction at the school near Behala Chowrasta.
Hakim on Friday said the issue related to construction work at Oxford Mission in Behala was an administrative one and KMC buildings department would do the needful.A KMC official said the buildings department had issued a stop-work notice to the authorities of the CNI-run institution as no sanction had been taken for the work. “School authorities had been asked to appear at a hearing next week where the construction that had been carried out so far may have to be regularized,” a civic official said.
The mayor’s intervention comes after the Oxford Mission recently approached CM Mamata Banerjee and Hakim and alleged high-handedness of Trinamool councillor of ward 123, Sudip Polley. The councillor, who is also chairman of borough 16, alleged that the school was filling up water bodies and he was merely enquiring into it.
In the letter addressed to the CM, Oxford Mission authorities said the councillor was resorting to hooliganism. “The Sister Florence Nursing College is located on Oxford Mission campus. It has an amalgamation of smaller hut-like structures that are in disrepair. We had sought permission to carry out repairs but the borough office ignored the requests. We were doing some asbestos roofing work when the councillor sent his men. They demanded that someone in authority had to go and meet the councillor. It was also claimed that we are filling up a pond on the premises. This is not true. We are carrying out beautification work. The councillor has stopped this work, too,” said Raghav Nayak, the property secretary on behalf of CNI.
Nayak thanked both Banerjee and Hakim for trying to resolve the issue.
The Oxford Mission property has a road and a field used by morning walkers. Church authorities complained that many of these walkers engage in inappropriate activities, leading to a ban on outsiders. This prompted the councillor to intervene, even allegedly threatening the Bishop that the Mission’s gates must remain open. When the authorities refused, threats continued, affecting the nursing college’s operations.
Polley said, “I have reported illegal activities and KMC has issued a notice. As the councillor it’s my duty to check if anything illegal is happening. They have failed to show property papers and approved plans.”