Bhide Wada, first school for girls started by Phule, razed in midnight action

Pune: A month after court orders, the Pune Municipal Corporation in the early hours of Tuesday razed the dilapidated structure of Bhide Wada, where social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule started the first school for girls in 1848.

The civic body plans to build a national memorial dedicated to the social reformer couple at the site, officials said. However, local people and traders had refused to vacate the place and moved court.

The Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court recently cleared the way for the PMC to build the national memorial at the site and ordered shop owners and tenants at the dilapidated structure to vacate the premises.

"The structure is being brought down and we will proceed further for the national memorial project-related work at the site," an official of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said.

A large police force was deployed in the area as the civic body moved to raze the structure. It was completely demolished sometime after midnight.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Sandip Singh Gill said since the PMC did not get possession of the property despite issuing notices to the tenants and shop owners, it had written to the police for personnel to be deployed during the action.

Bhide Wada is located in the Budhwar Peth area of Pune.