Mumbai : Parents, activists, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Pranali Girish Raut have raised strong objections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) decision to downgrade the New Mahim Municipal English Primary School from C-2 (repairable) to C-1 (dangerous and to be demolished).
During an Independence Day event at Mahim’s Desai Playground, parents and students staged a protest against the move, calling it a deliberate attempt to shut down the 50-year-old institution. Raut vowed to meet the Additional Municipal Commissioner and, if necessary, take the matter to court.
The building, repaired in 2017, was classified as C-2 in July 2024. However, in January 2025, BMC reclassified it as C-1 despite earlier engineering recommendations for limited repairs and a second structural audit. Parents say the sudden downgrade raises doubts about the civic body’s intentions, citing the Mori Road Municipal School—demolished in 2019 but yet to be rebuilt—as a warning example.
The community has urged BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani to opt for repairs instead of demolition, warning that losing the building would permanently deprive Mahim of a crucial educational facility.
Meanwhile, displaced students have been shifted to a tower near Mahim Kapad Bazar, where they are reportedly crammed into eight rooms with no lab, library, play area, drinking water, or functioning washrooms, and where teachers frequently fail to attend classes.
