Work on construction of a road on land reportedly belonging to Sri Dev Suman Government inter-college in Chamba has been resumed after axing trees planted on the site in memory of freedom fighter Sri Dev Suman. There was a heated argument between parents of the students studying in the school and villagers of Manjyud on the issue with the parents stating that they will approach the court of law. Meanwhile, officials of the Tehsil administration are not saying clearly whether the land in question belongs to the school or the Revenue department.
Members of the school’s Parents Teachers Association executive reached the site on receiving news about a JCB arriving for construction of a road to Manjyud situated behind the school. The PTA members got the work stopped. When the Tehsildar Satish Kumar reached the site, parents of the students strongly opposed construction of the road.
The protesters also raised slogans against the administration and stressed that they would not allow encroachment on land belonging to the school under any circumstances. Due to strong opposition faced from the parents, the JCB and officials left the site but returned to the site later along with police force in the afternoon and began work on constructing the road.
In the presence of the administration officials and the police, the JCB was used to uproot many trees. The protesting PTA members accused the administration of working under the pressure of the local MlA. The PTA head Rajesh Semwal objected to the administration undertaking road construction by encroaching on land belonging to the school. He protested against the axing of trees planted on the land in memory of freedom fighter Sri Dev Suman. The PTA members said that they will now approach the court of law against the action taken by the administration. On the other hand, the Tehsildar, Satish Kumar said that construction of the road to Manjyud village housing about 15 families had been started in 2013. Some of the work was left incomplete so it is improper for parents of the school students to protest at this point of time. However, when asked whether the land in question belongs to the school or the Revenue department, he said that he did not have that information.