Hyderabad: A science museum and labs in the century old Mahabub College are in the eye of storm as the management removed the equipment in them.

A teacher is fighting to save a science museum, set up by his students and him, which earned laurels across the country.

Students said that there are four functional labs dedicated to science subjects. One of them is called Swami Vivekananda Science Centre, which houses best projects. The labs are getting donations and also receive the chemistry kit, which helps students from the lower strata of income and rural areas to work on innovative scientific projects.

The school management claimed that other than a few demonstrations by students there are hardly any activities taking place in the labs. Same is the case with the science museum. Therefore, the equipment in the museum and in the labs have been shifted to the proposed sports rooms, they added.

Former students alleged that the sports ground is being encroached to build convention halls. They said that the laboratories also follow suit. Sources in the college said that there is an agenda behind this. They said, “The management is encroaching the rooms to build convention halls. The institution was founded in 1863 by the then Nizam to help educate students from rural areas. Depriving them the lab facility will put an end to their scientific experiments.”

Upender Panjala, a former student working with a software company in the city, said, “The lab showed us many innovative things. We took part in the national and district level science fairs and won many prizes. Some of them were held in Kerala and Ranchi. I come from a poor family at Addaguda and my brothers also studied in Mahabub.”

The Jana Vignana Vedika Organisation is against the move by the school. The authorities, however, denied the allegations.