Students and teachers of Phulia Vidyamandir, a higher secondary school in Nadia, hit the streets on Tuesday to reclaim their playground that they claimed has been illegally grabbed by the local panchayat to dig up a community pond.

The teachers and students of the Phulia school staged a demonstration on Tuesday outside the office of the block development officer in Santipur to protest digging up of the community pond that will take up one bigha (approximately 14,400sqft) of their school’s playground.

Accusing the panchayat authorities of grabbing school land and unlawfully digging up the playground for the proposed pond under the 100-day job scheme, the students and teachers have demanded that the work, which is part of the panchayat’s beautification project, be immediately stopped.

With banners and placards in their hands, the students and the teachers marched to the BDO office and staged a demonstration. Later, they submitted a petition to the district administration.

While the school authorities alleged that the Trinamul-run Phulia township panchayat were illegally diffing up the playground, the panchayat authorities claimed that the work had been taken up on government land over which the school had no rights.

The issue has sparked off a political controversy with panchayat pradhan Utpal Basak accusing a section of the CPM and the BJP leadership of instigating the students and the teachers against them.

Trouble broke out last week when workers sent by the panchayat begun digging up the pond on a part of the school playground adjacent to a road. The school authorities objected and urged the panchayat to stop the work. But the panchayat authorities ignored the appeal and continued with the job. School authorities sought the BDO’s intervention but in vain.

The demonstration by the students.

Hea master Shakti Prasad Chakraborty said: “We objected as the panchayat was illegally digging up land belonging to the school. Moreover, the pond would not just reduce the playing arena, but create a security threat to the safety of students as well.”

“We urged the panchayat authorities to leave our land, but the pradhan claimed it was government land. The land records available with us shows that school owns the plot,” the headmaster added.

Basak, however, refuted the headmaster’s claim. He said: “We have done nothing illegal. The land records clearly shows that it is government land and work had been taken up in the concurrence with the district administration'.”The stretch where work has been taken up was a trench adjacent to the road and the school playground. We are digging up the trench and adding more areas to it to build a community pond under 100-day job scheme. The pond will be beautified and a park build around it. A boundary wall will separate the playground and the pond. The project has not encroached the school playground at all. The issue has been raked up by some local BJP and CPM leaders to create trouble in the locality.”

Block development officer of Santipur Suman Debnath said: “I have spoken to the students and the teachers on the issue. I have told the panchayat to suspend work for the next four days. I will examine the land records to ascertain the ownership of the land in question and take further decision accordingly. If the land is a property of the school, the panchayat will have to take its no objection to execute the project.”