Teachers join greens to save Attakkulangara school

All Kerala School Teachers’ Union has joined hands with Tree Walk to organise a signature campaign at the school

Volunteers and old students take part in a signature campaign organised bythe All Kerala School Teachers’ Union calling upon TRIDA to scrap themove to construct a bus bay and shopping mall on the Government CentralHigh School campus at Attakulangara, on Saturday. — PHOTO: S. GOPAKUMAR

Greens fighting to save the Attakkulangara Central School, which is faced with the threat of demolition to facilitate establishment of the city bus terminal, got a new ally on Saturday — an organisation of teachers.

The All Kerala School Teachers’ Union (AKSTUC) has joined hands with Tree Walk, which has been campaigning for preservation of the school premises, to organise a signature campaign at the school. They vowed to protect the 130-year-old school, which is a green lung of the city and is home to 52 students, 38 trees, 80 different plants, and 20 different butterflies.

Inaugurating the event, the former Forest Minister Benoy Viswam wondered how anyone could say that greenery should make way for a bus bay and a shopping complex when there could be alternatives to such a proposal. He hoped better sense would prevail over the Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA) and the district administration.

Tree Walk and AKSTU leaders said they would hold an Assembly March on Monday to draw the attention of the legislators to the issue.