The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that the New Mahim Municipal Corporation School in the ‘G North Ward’, which was issued a C1 certificate, will be reconstructed on the same plot by the civic body itself. The statement comes following repeated protests from political activists and citizens seeking an explanation for the closure of the school.
As per the civic body, BMC’s School Infrastructural Cell (SIC) had conducted a structural audit of the building, after which they classified it to be a ‘C1’ building, or a highly dangerous structure. However, after parents and representatives contested the C1 classification and demanded a third-party evaluation, the civic body conducted another structural audit by a third-party consultant, which also found the structure of this building “highly dangerous,” as per the authorities and the BMC’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
mid-day had earlier reported that citizens, activists, and members of the Marathi Abhyas Kendra held a protest against the BMC’s decision to shut down the school. The group alleged that the land allotted to civic-run schools will be being turned into commercial complexes, while schools will be given only a small share of the total occupancy.
Clarifying the allegation, BMC released a formal statement saying that the New Mahim School building is now to be reconstructed at the same place and this land will only be used only for the education of school students. The civic body also clarified that the construction of this school building will be done by the BMC itself and not a private developer.
The closure of the New Mahim School especially drew ire, as the neighbouring Mori Road BMC school was also shut down a few years ago and hadn’t seen any reconstruction efforts, as per Mahim residents. Updating the progress of the issue, the BMC statement read, “The reconstruction of the Mahim Mori School building is in progress. The tender has been published. The tender process will be completed by the end of November 2025, and the work order will be issued.”
However, activists remain dissatisfied. “We wish to see the report of the third-party audit that was conducted. The BMC has used terminology like ‘highly dangerous’, but we need to know if the third-party audit has outrightly classified the building as C1,” said Pranali Raut, a citizen activist and AAP member who led the movement.
Further quashing allegations of unfairness towards Marathi schools, the BMC spokesperson stated that Marathi, Hindi, and English medium students from the New Mahim School building have been shifted to nearby schools in a planned manner, and all the students are continuing their education properly.
