NAROWAL: A number of students of the Government Girls High School of Pejuwali have protested against the district administration for not clearing heaps of garbage outside their institute.

The Municipal Committee has been dumping city’s garbage daily for the last one year along the school on New Lahore Road, about eight kilometres from here.

More than 1,000 girls study at the school and they, along with teachers, are facing severe difficulties due to filth and miasma. Reports of the teachers and students falling ill appear often due to a lack of arrangement to remove the garbage.

Amna Habib and Ishrat Mehmood protested that it was a nightmarish experience for the students to attend their school. They said the garbage housed insects and snakes which entered the classrooms. They said that five snakes had entered the classrooms in the last one year and they were killed with a great deal of difficulty.

Naseem Akhtar and Fatima Ali said that they could not even walk around the school grounds in the morning assembly time due to stench. They said more than 100 students had left the school in the last one year but the authorities concerned hardly seemed bothered about the issue.

Mohammad Hanif and Mohammad Ibrahim, residents of the area, said they had repeatedly requested the education department and the deputy commissioner to ensure cleanliness around the school but to no avail. They said their children were exposed to hazards due to the constant source of diseases.

District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer Chaudhry Muhammad Liaquat Ali said the complaints of stench and vermin had been received and he would speak to the chief officer Municipal Committee and the deputy commissioner to work out a solution to the problem.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2022