Varsity finally cleans up its act at hostels

MiD DAY report on unhygienic living conditions in boys' hostels at University of Pune makes rector order clearing of garbage, repair of broken pipes, pest control measures

MiD DAY report on unhygienic living conditions in boys' hostels at University of Pune makes rector order clearing of garbage, repair of broken pipes, pest control measures

Walking up to the pathetic living conditions in the boys' hostels following a MiD DAY report on April 8, authorities at the University of Pune (UoP) have finally swung into action and started taking remedial measures.


MiD DAY had reported on April 8 that UoP was not utilising funds to keep
hostels clean

The MiD DAY report had pointed out that despite a large monetary allocation for their upkeep, hostels run by the UoP were overcrowded, infested with bedbugs, had open sewers and garbage lying around, and served insipid food. Mid DAY had also printed pictorial evidence of these facts along with the report, which got the varsity staffers moving.


Welcome relief: The leaking pipelines

Dr Bhaskar Shejwal, chief rector of the hostels, said that he immediately called for a meeting with officials from the estate department after the report was published."Actually, we were aware of all these issues and work was in progress, but there were some co-ordination problems between us and the estate department that led to a delay.


Outside the boys hostel were emitting foul stench and littered with
garbage. The UoP began its clean up act by sweeping off garbade outside
the rear premises of hostel that had mixed with sewage water.
Pics/Jignesh Mistry and Chetan Gandle


It is the estate department that is supposed to do all this work; the rector merely has to perform administrative and disciplinary work," said Shejwal. "But once the report was out, we convened a meeting and fixed a timeline for doing all the pending work listed in the story."

Students at the UoP hostels confirmed that the work had commenced. "The garbage bins outside the boys' hostels had been overflowing for weeks as the contractor hadn't come to lift the garbage. Yesterday, all that garbage was cleared," said a student living in a hostel. "They even swept all garbage from the rear of the hostel premises, which had not been cleaned in months and where all the garbage had mixed with sewage water."

According to Shejwal, cleaning the premises was merely the first step. "We are doing a pest control of all hostels between April 23 and May 1 and have pasted notices in all hostel buildings specifying the dates. Students have been notified on which days their buildings will be covered and we have instructed them to vacate the rooms for some time," he said, referring to the bedbug menace mentioned in the MiD DAY report.
He added that next on the agenda was replacing the broken sewage pipes and installing mercury lights on the hostel grounds.