Protest over proposed parking lot near school
The Hindu
Students, parents of Chaderghat school want land back from HMRL for playground
The Government City Model Primary School at Chaderghat is a noisy racket during lunch break. The corridor, the classrooms, the small porch and the front of the school is filled with noisy children playing various games.
This was not always the case, as the school had a large open space in the middle where children could burn their energy. Things changed when the Hyderabad Metro chose the plot of land for raising pillars for its Red Line connecting LB Nagar to Miyapur in 2013.
The students were shifted to a nearby building while HMRL constructed the pillars and as per the agreement, rebuilt the school building, albeit in a different shape. The school, previously in a 75 by 45 metre plot of land, shrunk to a scalene triangle of 54 by 27 metres in the form of a four-storeyed building.
Hampi, the UNESCO-recognised historical site, was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire from 1336 to 1565. Foreign travellers from Persia, Europe and other parts of the world have chronicled the wealth of the place and the unique cultural mores of this kingdom built on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. There are fine descriptions to be found of its temples, farms, markets and trading links, remnants of which one can see in the ruins now. The Literature, architecture of this era continue inspire awe.
Unfurling the zine handed to us at the start of the walk, we use brightly-coloured markers to draw squiggly cables across the page, starting from a sepia-toned vintage photograph of the telegraph office. Iz, who goes by the pronouns they/them, explains, “This building is still standing, though it shut down in 2013,” they say, pointing out that telegraphy, which started in Bengaluru in 1854, was an instrument of colonial power and control. “The British colonised lands via telegraph cables, something known as the All Red Line.”
The festival in Bengaluru is happening at various locations, including ATREE in Jakkur, Bangalore Creative Circus in Yeshwantpur, Courtyard Koota in Kengeri, and Medai the Stage in Koramangala. The festival will also take place in various cities across Karnataka including Tumakuru, Ramanagara, Mandya, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Hassan, Chitradurga, Davangere, Chamarajanagar and Mysuru.