Kulgam: There has been no headway into saving more than 150 school children from the “life-altering” effects of spending their days in the middle of two bandsaw mills, despite the identification of land for the construction of a new school building here in Motelhama village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
Instead, the Education department keeps paying a rent of Rs 1.2 lakh per year to keep the Government Middle School Motelhama functioning. The school has a roll of about 150 students, more than 20 of them studying in kindergarten classes.
More than 55 years have passed since the school was established as a primary school and started functioning in a rented accommodation. “Over the years, two bandsaw mills were established on either side of the school even as the school was upgraded to the middle level,” a source in the education department told Kashmir Reader.
The source said that no steps have been taken since 1966 to upgrade the infrastructure of the school. “And, with the establishment of the two bandsaw mills, the children are now exposed to grave health risks day in and day out,” the source said.
Parents in the area told Kashmir Reader that they have been, for years now, trying to get the attention of the authorities. They lamented that the authorities have neither been able to move the bandsaw mills from this residential area, perilously close to the school, nor have they been able to move the school to another location.
“Amid the official apathy, the Auqaaf Committee came together and offered money to the bandsaw owners for relocation. They, however, remained unmoved and continued to operate from the same place,” the locals said.
The officials did wake up from their slumber, in the latter part of last year, and identified a piece of state land for a new school building. “A board was put in place and we were told that things will move quickly. Almost a year has passed and apart from the signboard, marking the land for the school, no further steps have been taken,” the locals lamented.
As a result, the school continues to operate from the rented building in the middle of the two bandsaw mills. The children continue to remain exposed to serious health risks.
Experts say continuous exposure to loud noise can cause long-term damage to both health and behaviour, including high stress levels, hypertension, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and tinnitus (perception of noise ringing in ears).
“It can cause attention deficit, and anxiety and it can affect their respiratory system given the air pollution these mills cause. The performance of these students will nosedive over the years,” a doctor that Kashmir Reader talked to said. He added that anxiety can have serious health implications in the longer run.
Kashmir Reader talked to Chief Education Officer (CEO) Kulgam, Muhammad Ashraf, who said that a project report has been sent and his office was waiting for approval.
“A new plan will be released in March and we are hopeful the construction of the school will be taken up in the plan,” the CEO said, adding, “The land stands identified already.”

Suhail A Shah