A newly constructed CBSE school building in Mumbai’s Govandi has remained inaccessible for nearly a year after its completion — not due to infrastructure delays, but because a connecting road was never built. As a result, over 600 students continue to attend classes in cramped borrowed spaces, even as their state-of-the-art school building remains locked and surrounded by garbage.
Commissioned by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and administered by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Mumbai Public School CBSE near Natwar Parekh Compound was envisioned as the first CBSE public school for the underserved M East ward. However, a critical lapse — the absence of a proper access road — has rendered the facility unusable. According to civic officials, fire safety and emergency access requirements mandate at least a 9-metre-wide road for any school building to be operationalised. At present, the main gate of the school is blocked by garbage mounds and a dirt path dotted with potholes, while the smaller secondary gate adjoining a residential cluster remains shut. Officials from the BMC’s M East ward have confirmed that without a motorable road, the school cannot be approved for student use.
While the school building, equipped with 30 new classrooms, stands completed, the lack of accessibility has forced authorities to continue operations out of the Shivajinagar BMC School Group I. Nearly 600 students — from nursery to Class VII — and faculty members are accommodated in seven classrooms of an Urdu-medium school. Teachers have adapted by conducting sessions in hallways and temporary sections. Despite these constraints, the school has maintained a 100 per cent pass rate and nurtured student achievements, including Olympiad wins and young authorships. Parents have voiced growing frustration, especially after having transferred their children from private schools based on the promise of improved public education infrastructure. The active Parent Teacher Association has consistently appealed to the authorities for urgent resolution, warning that continued delays could jeopardise learning conditions and safety.
Experts argue that the roadblock represents a broader issue of planning oversight in marginalised urban localities. The Govandi ward ranks among Mumbai’s most underserved in terms of public infrastructure, and residents fear this project may become another example of institutional apathy toward low-income neighbourhoods. Repeated appeals by school authorities and local civic bodies have yet to elicit action from MMRDA. Civic officials stress that this failure to provide basic access not only compromises educational equity but also undercuts Mumbai’s stated goals of inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban development.
While students and teachers remain committed to quality learning despite challenges, the onus now lies on civic planners and government agencies to deliver what was promised — not just a building, but a functional and safe educational space.
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