Mahadevi Birla Girls’ higher secondary school

Jodhpur park boys school

Jodhpur Park Boys School reopened after summer vacation on Monday with the pandal and makeshift urinals constructed for last month’s civic elections still standing on the playground. “They built the urinals without our permission. The grass has been damaged and we do not know when we would get the ground back,” said Gopal Chandra Nandi, the headmaster of the school. Teachers and students also complained about stinking toilets and a broken blackboard (picture below). The election army did not spare Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School either. Only a portion of the pandal erected on the school ground has been dismantled (picture above). “We had to clear the mess left behind by the election officials. Though the election commission has asked for another day to clean up the campus, we suspect that we would eventually have to fill the potholes and remove the nails that dot the ground,” said an official. The state election commission had requisitioned both schools till June 6.

Bidhan Sarani-Beadon Street crossing

BBD Bag

Harish Mukherjee Road

Andul Raj road

“My office will pay for any damage done to school property. We would definitely clear the mess in the schools by today,” said Khalil Ahmed, the district municipal electoral officer, on Monday afternoon. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha

On Sunday afternoon as Mamata Banerjee directed the new Trinamul councillors to keep their areas clean “at least by removing posters, banners and festoons”, Metro toured the length and breadth of the city and found campaign material of Trinamul and its opposition parties cluttering virtually every street a week after they had outlived their utility. The election commission guidelines clearly state that flags, banners and hoardings should be removed and the graffiti erased after the voting process is over. “The rule implies that the clean-up should not take more than a few days. Ideally, it should be completed before results are declared. It certainly should not take more than a week. But there is no specific timeline,” said an election official.

Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta