Bhubaneswar, Sept. 13: A public school on the embankment of Bhargabhi river at Basuaghai mouza has come under the line of fire for encroaching upon government land.

The revenue and disaster management department is likely to take action against the school after the Orissa High Court passed an interim order to this effect in response to a writ petition filed by Keshab Chandra Samantray, a resident of Bankuala.

However, the school authorities allege foul play. They say while the government has taken no action on bigger structures on encroached lands on river embankments, people with vested interests are acting against them.

Headmaster of the school Srikant Dash said: “I agree the school is on government land. But it helps more than 400 kids of nearly 15 villages get education. We don’t get any grant from the state government and have become a self-sufficient institution with the pupils donating whatever sum of money they can afford to. But some people with vested interests are acting against us.”

Samantray, in his writ petition, had alleged that apart from encroaching upon government land, the public school has also put the lives the 400 schoolchildren in danger.

“A high-tension electric supply line passes over the school. This poses a huge danger for the children. Apart from the school building, even the construction sheds and wooden cabins near the campus become the meeting place for criminals after dark,” said Samantray.

The public school started functioning in 1999 under the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha, and functions in two batches — morning and day. The school has 17 teachers.

Ashok Kumar Behera, the tehsildar of Bhubaneswar, said: “The district collector has given directions for action against the illegal public school at Basuaghai mouza.”

Alleging that this was a classic case of the government’s double standards, headmaster Dash said on both sides of the Bargabhi bridge, large plots of lands were lying barricaded for the past eight months. But not a single sapling had been planted yet.

“Land-grabbers have encroached upon huge tracts land on the pretext of plantation. But the authorities have not taking any action against them. So, why are they after our school? This shows their double standards,” he said.

When asked about the bigger structures and campuses along the embankment of Kuakhai river, tehsildar Behera said: “The higher authorities will take action against those institutions.”

Sources said water resources, revenue and disaster management and housing and urban development departments have identified three huge campuses on the Kuakhai embankment, but no action has been taken.

“The authorities should take steps and initiate action against all concerned and not adopt a selective stance by demolishing just the smaller structures,” said city-based urban management practitioner Piyush Ranjan Rout.

Bhubaneswar Development Authority vice-chairman Vishal Dev said: “We have already issued notices to the authorities of two major educational institutions and the one that is coming up on the Kuakhai embankment. Action will follow soon. They are not only putting the lives of people in danger, but also violating norms by constructing huge structures in eco-sensitive zones.”