129 Bengaluru schools declare holiday as leopard mystery remains unsolved

Holiday for children not for school staff.
129 Bengaluru schools declare holiday as leopard mystery remains unsolved
129 Bengaluru schools declare holiday as leopard mystery remains unsolved
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​Leopard scare seems to have become intense as 129 schools in Bengaluru have been asked to declare a holiday on Thursday.

Seventy-six private schools and 53 government schools in Varthur , Nallurahalli, Doddakanelli , Marathahalli, east Bengaluru have been closed.  However, the holiday does not apply for the school staff.

This step was taken after a leopard had allegedly been spotted by a few locals on Tuesday night.

Sunday a leopard was caught in Vibgyor International School in Varthur after a 12 hour rescue operation that left 3 injured. Vibyor  had declared a holiday on Wednesday too.

However, this step has been taken inspite of  the confirmation from the top officials on Wednesday that there is not leopard in Varthur area, where rescue operation has been going on since Tuesday night.

S M Ramesh, block education officer (South 4) said that they announced a holiday for schools in the area deputy director of public instruction (Bengaluru south), asked us to.

"No leopard was seen or traced in and around the school by our forest staff after a night-long search operation though the school remains shut as a precaution," said Ravi Ralph, prinicipal chief conservator of forest and wildlife ward, Karnataka.

"We cannot take chances with small children and there are so many schools int he area. We will not be able to focus on rescue operation if we are worried about the children," Ramesh said.

Asked how long the schools will be kept closed, he said, "I am not sure. But there is still a fear that that the leopard is around as people believe they come in pairs, and the other one could still be around."

However, the decision seems to have been taken without having informed the public instruction head.

Commissioner of public instruction of Bengaluru, K A Sathyamurthy said,“I have not received any communication about this till Wednesday. It might not be correct as we have not permitted any such order.”

“From the local area if there is any demand in case of emergencies, then public instruction can send out an order. They might have acted like that,”he added.

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