The school cancelled all classes for the primary and kindergarten sections till September 22, when parents have been asked to check the notice board for further information.
The recent water cuts have left the students of an Andheri school high and dry - without enough water even in the toilets, the school has been forced to cancel classes for the past few days.
Since Friday, students of the primary and kindergarten sections at the Amboli-based St Blaise High School have not had any classes because of a severe lack of water. The school management has now declared a holiday till September 22 on account of the water cuts, as well as Ganeshotsav.
Because of the water shortage, even students of the secondary section were sent home early yesterday, at 10 am, instead of the regular time at 12:45 pm. "How do we run a school without running water?" asked an official from the school, which bore a deserted look after all the students were asked to leave on Tuesday.
The principal refused to comment on the issue, but the helping staff at the school told mid-day that the school had been receiving water for less than two hours daily, that too at odd hours. A notice board on the school gate clearly states, "Primary and KG school will remain closed from September 14 to 21 due to non-availability of water in the school and Ganesh holidays."
While school is supposed to reopen on September 22, parents have been asked to check the notice board again then, to confirm whether the school has enough water and can hold classes. "We had even called for a water tanker in the morning, but the water was not enough for all the needs of the school.
There are thousands of students studying in the school and we have two washrooms on every floor, which consume a lot of water," said one of the staff members. When mid-day contacted the civic ward officer of the K West ward (which covers Amboli), the officers said no complaint has been received about this problem.
"Our officers from the water works department visited the school and found that the time at which water is supplied to that area is too early for the school, so Wednesday onwards, the water distribution timing will be changed. In case they still don't receive enough water, we will send tankers," said Parag Masurkar, assistant municipal commissioner of the ward.
Meanwhile, parents are worried that this will make it difficult to finish the syllabus on time. "My son studies in Std II and he hasn't gone to school since last Friday. On Monday when I went to drop him to school the school sent all students back home because there was no water," said Afzal Sheikh, one of the parents. "With these many holidays, completing the syllabus will become difficult," said another parent.