India, June 24 -- With their school in Mahim declared dilapidated and unsafe to use, primary children from a municipal school are being sent on a 7km journey each day - a burden placed on their young shoulders by crumbling civic infrastructure.

The sudden move to declare the BMC-run New Mahim Municipal English Primary School as dilapidated ahead of it being demolished has impacted more than 1,500 students. While secondary students have been accommodated in schools in the vicinity, primary students, aged six to ten, have been relocated to a municipal school in Worli, almost 7km away.

Parents are distraught. "We cannot send our children so far every day. There's no school bus, no transport facility provided. Are we supposed to drop them a...