Several city schools announced early dispersal on Tuesday, fearing traffic congestion because of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s rally in the backdrop of a special intensive revision (SIR) of Bengal’s electoral rolls and concerns over possible mass deletion of genuine voters’ names.
The 2pm rally is scheduled to start from the statue of B.R. Ambedkar off Red Road and culminate at Jorasanko Thakurbari.
La Martiniere for Girls and Boys, St James’ School, Pratt Memorial School, and Welland Gouldsmith School, Bowbazar, are among the institutions that have decided to close early. All the schools will be over around noon.
Welland Gouldsmith School, which is closest to the rally route, will start dispersing pre-primary students from 10.30am.
“Parents have been enquiring, and so we decided to disperse students early. We anticipate traffic congestion, and it would not be a pleasant
experience if children are stuck on the roads,” said Gillian Rosemary Hart, principal of Welland Gouldsmith School.
St James’ School will also start dispersing children at 10.30am, and the entire school will be off by 11.30am. “We received a message from the traffic department that there is a possibility of congestion,” said St James’ principal Terence Ireland.
Schools hope that the early dispersal will allow students to reach home before the rally begins.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party’s No. 2, Abhishek Banerjee, are scheduled to walk the 4.1km stretch through central Calcutta.
The march will start at the Ambedkar statue, then proceed along Red Road, Rani Rashmoni Avenue, the KC Das crossing, Central Avenue, and end at Jorasanko.
Police said traffic could be affected on these roads.
“Traffic may have to be diverted as and when required on Tuesday,” said an officer of the traffic department.
“The idea is to keep vehicles moving so that traffic does not come to a standstill,” the officer added.
However, teachers pointed out that the impact of a large rally often extends beyond the main route.
“If traffic is diverted, it increases the load on other roads, slowing them down as well,” said a teacher from a central Calcutta school.
Many schools, however, will follow their regular
schedules.
“A changed timetable would mean rearranging classes and asking parents to adjust pickup plans, which can be inconvenient,” said the coordinator of a south Calcutta school.
Class X and XII students of Frank Anthony Public School have a scheduled unit test on Tuesday. The school has not rescheduled the test but will allow absentees to appear later.
“We will set another question paper for them,” said Ian Myers, principal, Frank Anthony Public School.