To decongest Lal Chowk, govt may shift pvt schools

To decongest the commercial hub of Lal Chowk, the state government is mulling to shift the century old Tyndale-Biscoe and Mallinson schools from the area.
The move has come after traders in Lal Chowk suggested that the congestion in the business hub could be minimised if the two private schools will be shifted to the city outskirts.
“The Deputy Commissioner has been appointed as a representative of the government to talk to the management of the schools and to look for an alternate land for them,” sources said.
They said Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Samoon asked the Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Lone on Monday during a meeting with traders to talk to the school management and look for an alternate land on the city outskirts.
The 136-year-old Tyndale Biscoe School and its girls wing, Mallinson school, are spread over an area of 85 kanals in Lal Chowk. Sources said the school authorities pay Rs 119 annually as rent to the government. However, as per information revealed by the government last year under the RTI Act, the school authorities had not paid the rent for the last 35 years.
In peak hours, the buses of both the schools create traffic jams in Lal Chowk. Pedestrian movement has also become difficult as vendors line the walls of the schools. “We believe shifting of Biscoe and Mallinson schools to city outskirts is good for both schoolchildren as well as traders,” Lal Chowk traders’ body chief Yasin Khan said.
Like subordinate courts and the Tourist Reception Centre were shifted from Lal Chowk, Khan said the government could shift the schools on the outskirts of the city where huge chunks of state land were available.
He said traders were going to meet Governor NN Vohra in a week to apprise him about the issue. “If the government has to decongest Lal Chowk, it has to take some bold and concrete steps,” Khan said. The Deputy Commissioner said the government had received suggestions from traders. “We have to take many things in consideration before taking any decision on the issue,” Lone said.