The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Chandigarh Municipal Commissioner and the UT Chief Engineer to ensure inspection of a passage allegedly being used by schoolchildren in Mani Majra to access their school amid a claim that they are being forced to travel through “filthy dirt roads”.The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor directed the two authorities to get the passage inspected “forthwith”.“In the event it is found that there is no proper road available to the students to access their school, as is claimed in this PIL, then appropriate measures would be taken,” the Bench added.The direction came on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Deify Jindal. The petitioner alleged that young students had no clear passage to access their school and placed photographs before the court purportedly showing the condition of the route.The petitioner was seeking appropriate directions to the respondent authorities for ensuring a safe, hygienic and secure environment for the minor children studying at Government Model Middle School, Pocket No. 6, Sector 13, Chandigarh.“The school is a government co-educational institution imparting education to children from Classes I to VII and operates in two shifts, including an evening shift. The road adjoining and leading to the school is unpaved, uneven and steep, while the area immediately surrounding the school is affected by overgrown vegetation, accumulated garbage and waste, inadequate street lighting and the presence of makeshift structures/jhuggis and an informal settlement,” the petitioner contended.The Bench was also told that a drain/nallah was also situated approximately 50-60 feet from the school boundary wall.“The cumulative effect of these conditions creates an unsafe and inadequately secured environment for minor children, particularly those dispersing from the evening shift and during the winter months,” it was added.It was further added that the petitioner had addressed a detailed legal notice dated March 9 to the authorities concerned seeking remedial action. The school authorities, thereafter, acknowledged, among other things, the existence of the unpaved road and drain/nallah.Before parting with the order, the Bench called for a status report by the next date of hearing. The matter has been listed for October 9.