JVLR mud throws Jogeshwari school's buses off course

The 100-odd buses of Jogeshwari's Millat High School have been forced to take a different route to ferry their 5,000 students home and back. The reason: a service road that the civic body had reportedly promised to construct leading from the school premises is still not done.

School authorities said they had written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the road three months back. The premises also has Millat Nursing Home, where 1,500 to 1,700 patients come daily.

A school trustee said that with the construction of Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) on opposite the school, a service road parallel to it was promised. Authorities also alleged that due to the work a lot of mud gets accumulated in front of their premises, creating a mess. They added that the labourers there claim that the BMC has not given them permission to dump the mud anywhere else, and when it rains, their buses get stuck because of the slush.

A trustee said, "We had written to the BMC that it should complete the service road before school reopens in June, but it's not been done. This has completely messed up the area outside the school... On Thursday morning, our buses got stuck in the mud and we had to call for a JCB to pull them out."

On Wednesday, the school had sent a stop-work notice to the ward office. The BMC has placed table blocks for students to walk safely.

"The school did complain to me about the inconvenience it is facing due to the JVLR construction and no service road. I had immediately called up BMC officials and requested them to help. They brought the table blocks..." said K-west ward corporator Bala Ambekar.

Assistant commissioner of the ward Parag Masurkar said, "I received the letter from the school and I personally to attended its complaint. The service road may take time to finish."