The playground of Jagacha High School that is being eyed by promoters. Pictures by Gopal Senapati

The playground of an 83-year-old school in Jagachha will soon disappear under a concrete jungle if developers have their way. Jagacha High School, established in 1929, has a playground spread over 18 cottahs that was donated to it by one Kanailal Ghosh. The open ground, the only such in the congested area, is a breather for the students as well as the local people. This piece of open land might soon disappear if the descendants of Kanailal have their way. After nearly 40 years since the then district magistrate of Howrah, Parthasarathi Chowdhury, unveiled the foundation plaque of the school that lists the names of the donors, descendants of Kanailal Ghosh, are claiming that the playground belongs to them.

Trouble brewed on campus on July 5, when Pratik Sur, Kanailal Ghosh’s grandson entered the school playground and started demarcating it, without any notice to the school. An argument broke out between the school authorities and Pratik, who threatened to beat up students. The school authorities immediately informed Jagachha Police Station and the second officer ordered Sur to leave the school premises. As a mark of protest and to create awareness about the matter, the students, teachers, guardians and local people walked in a procession after school hours that day.

Jagacha High School was built on 2 bigha and 8 cottah land donated by four people, namely Bireswar Chatterjee, Ilias Ali Sheikh, Nandalal Shiuli and Rezwan Ali Laskar. The playground measuring 18 cottahs was donated by Kanailal Ghosh. The formal letters of donation were given to the school by the donors and four plots were registered in Jagacha High School’s name in 1973, except that of Kanailal Ghosh. The marble plaque on the school building reads that the then district magistrate, Parthasarathi Chowdhury, unveiled the plaque on May 18, 1973, where the names of all the donors were listed. “Kanailal Ghosh died in 1974, before his 18 cottah donated land could be registered in the school’s name. Since then the school authorities had not taken any initiative to legally include the playground in the school’s property. The managing committee of the school had not done any mutation of the land. They had probably never imagined that such a situation would arise,” said Animesh Kumar Majhi, assistant teacher of Jagacha High School.

Over the years, the school authorities have also misplaced the letter of donation issued by Kanailal Ghosh.

Students of the school took out a procession to inform people of the dispute

Pradyut Kumar Ghosh, Kanailal’s nephew, who was also secretary of the school from 1997 to 2005, said, “My uncle had never donated the land. If he had, the school should be able to show the official letter of donation.” Family members of the other donors, however, vouch that Kanailal had donated the land. Dipak Kumar Chatterjee, Bireswar Chatterjee’s nephew said, “I am sure that Kanailal Ghosh had donated the land. We have been using this playground for such a long time, we are sure that the plot belongs to the school.”

Not just the school authorities, residents of Jagachha are also surprised at the move. Sushil Ghosh, whose son studies in Class XII of the school, is also a former student of Jagacha High School. “We have always known that this playground belongs to the school, we have played there when we were students. Jagachha is a congested area and there is no suitable playground for students and children of the area. The only other open space is in Santragachhi Government Press quarters, which can only be used with permission. This ground is an important part of the school and I would never want a building to come up in its place,” said Sushil.

Another local resident and former pupil, Bapi Bhowmick feels the same way. “We have played here since we were children and have always known that this is Jagacha High School’s ground. This dispute is meaningless because the local people will never support this,” he said.

Hiren Sarkar, a former teacher of the school, who was present when the district magistrate had unveiled the plaque, said: “I remember Kanailal Ghosh was present at the programme and his name was announced among the land donors.”

There is no denying, however, that the disputed land is a lucrative plot for development. Located on Jagachha Mohiary Road, the plot is just five minutes away from Kona Expressway. Right across Kona Expressway is Santragachhi Junction. The disputed land would sell at “nothing less than Rs 12 to 15 lakh per cottah,” said Suresh Chandra Das, advocate, Howrah Judge’s Court.

“The plot has been in the school’s possession for over 40 years and so the school has a claim over it. The donor’s children had never shown any objection, but the grandchildren are suddenly denying the donation and want to reclaim the land to develop it,” explained Das.

The descendants of Kanailal Ghosh claim that the school has been using the ground without any official sanction. “All the documents that we have show that the land is in the name of Kanailal Ghosh’s four sons and daughters. We have LR parchas, issued after mutation and searching reports in the name of my mother, aunt and uncles,” said Pratik Sur, the son of Subha Sur, Kanailal’s daughter. He also denied Kanailal’s donation of land.

“My grandfather had never donated any land in the first place. He had planned to give this land to Jagachha Girls’ School, but at that time, the school committee did not start a girls’ school there. Finally, he did not give the land. I don’t know why his name was included among the donors. The school has been using the land unofficially because it has been lying unused. Now we need to sell the land and we are taking appropriate steps,” said Pratik.

Being a government-aided school, the authorities of Jagacha High School never had enough funds to build a boundary wall around the 18 cottah playground. “Since the local boys and many local clubs use the ground for sports or other events, we have never tried to enclose this ground,” said Majhi.

Jagacha High School, at present, has a student strength of 1,400 from Class V to XII. While Class V to X is for boys, Class XII is co-educational. “Most of the students belong to underprivileged families and are from the minority community. Their main attraction at school is the playground. They would never want their playground to disappear,” said Sanatan Koley, the headmaster of the school.

While the playground remains unfit during monsoon as it goes under water, during winter months, volleyball, football, cricket and kho kho tournaments are played here. “Many students from here have played at the state and national level in volleyball and football. Footballer Amar Ganguly of Mohun Bagan was a student of the school and had played football here,” said Majhi. Sushanta Sutradhar, a student of the Higher Secondary section, who plays in the East Bengal junior category, said: “I have been practising for a long time on this field and I cannot believe that this ground will not be there any more.”