KATHMANDU: The St Xavier’s School, Godavari, has gotten into a dispute with the local level after the latter reportedly established its ward office and a quarantine centre at the teachers' quarters in the school premises on Tuesday evening.

Local representatives on Tuesday afternoon established the ward office of Godavari Municipality-3 and a quarantine facility at Keshar Mahal which is being used as residential quarters for the school's teachers.

It has been reported that the ward office has quarantined two persons at the quarters where the teachers have been living with their family members.

The school's principal, Fr Samuel Simick SJ alleged that ward chair Bal Mukunda Ghimire along with goons, as well as security personnel, stormed into the school property and occupied the space. He told THT Online that the intruders broke padlock to enter one of the teacher's rooms. Fr Samuel said, "A few years back, the school administration had verbally agreed to lend the bungalow to the local administration for two years during which the ward did not carry out any activities, and now suddenly, they have forcefully occupied the property." He claimed that the school had been using the bungalow for seventy years on perpetual lease.

However, Ward Chair Ghimire refuted the school principal’s claim and said the local representatives had asked the school to let them set up a ward office until an office was constructed at another place for which the school had also agreed. The ward chair said, “Afterwards, we painted the bungalow, carried out renovation works including flooring of the premises with bricks as the school had promised us that it would move the resident teachers from the building, but they never did.”

”We had to take prompt decision to set up the ward office at Keshar Mahal in order to fulfil the requirement of establishing quarantine facility in the local level since old ward office and health office in the same building were too congested,” Ghimire elaborated.

The ward chair said that the building was handed over to the school by the then Forest State Minister with accorded responsibility of protecting the forest in the area and claimed that the property could be used by the government anytime.

The school's management has said it will take legal action against the local level's move.