CHENNAI: For students at the government aided school on 86th street at the backside of Mathias church in Ashok Nagar, the day begins with an unpleasant ritual: covering their nose to escape the overpowering stench of alcohol and urine outside the campus.
The school authorities say a stretch of parked and abandoned vehicles outside the campus has become a haven for drunkards, creating hygiene and safety concerns for nearly 2,500 students, and the staff across four educational institutions and a convent inside the school compound.
According to the school administration, men consume liquor outside the campus, using the parked vehicles as cover, and urinate and defecate in the area.
Speaking to TNIE, headmistress Sister Shanthi Amalore P of the school said every morning scores of empty liquor bottles will be strewn both inside and outside the campus. Last year, the school had to keep classroom windows of its primary school shut to prevent foul smell from entering, forcing students to sit in poorly ventilated rooms.
“As the sisters stay in the convent on the campus, they also have to endure sleepless nights due to late-night drinking sessions, birthday celebrations and the use of foul language,” she said, adding though repeated complaints have been raised, the authorities are yet to take a permanent solution.
The headmistress further said the line up of parked vehicles is often secluded and that some of the covered vehicles have remained parked there for more than a decade.
Social activist PN Gubendran said he has petitioned the CM Cell to deploy the newly launched Singappen Special Force.
When contacted, ward 135 councillor B Yazhini said after the issue was recently brought to her notice, a few autorickshaws had been removed and traffic police personnel had been asked to clear the other abandoned vehicles as well.
“It is becoming a challenge to remove some vehicles as we are finding it difficult to trace their owners. Many residents in the neighbourhood are also parking their vehicles outside the school,” she added.