Action against SDMC, school head for building’s demolition

Mangaluru: A

notice

has been served to the

school development and monitoring committee

(SDMC) president of

Nellikatte Government School

in

Puttur

, for demolishing the 156-year-old school building. “We have served a notice, and action will be initiated against those involved in the

demolition

of the school,’’ said

Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat CEO Kumar

.

On November 11, the SDMC of Nellikatte Government School in Puttur razed the historical school building, which was in a dilapidated state for many years. The demolition of the building had irked villagers and lovers of Kannada writer, social activist, environmentalist, Yakshagana artiste, filmmaker and thinker Kota Shivaram Karanth. The school building was the first school of Puttur taluk, and also the workplace of Jnanpith awardee Shivaram Karanth.

“The SDMC decided that the building was in a dilapidated state and posed a danger, so they went ahead with their plans, without obtaining permission from the competent authorities. We have decided to take action against the

school head

, who is the official custodian of the building. There was no need to demolish the building, even though it was in a bad shape,” he stressed, adding that the PWD decides about the condition of a building, before taking any such decision.

The district administration had planned to turn it into a memorial or museum, after handing over the building to the archaeology department. Kumar said that a proposal was already sent to the archaeology department, to restore the building and turn into a memorial or museum.

Deputy commissioner K V Rajendra said that based on newspaper reports, an inquiry has been initiated, and DDPI Malleswamy has been asked to submit a report regarding the demolition of the school building.