Thane: Lack of water, dirty toilets and irregular lectures plague campus

Students at the School of Law Mumbai Universityrsquos Thane subcampus are grappling with subpar conditions despite paying Rs 25 lakh for their fiveyear LLB course The Studentsrsquo Council of MU Thane SubCampus and Law College students have voiced concerns about neglect and unsanitary conditions on the premisesLocated in Thanersquos Balkum area the School of Law at Thane SubCampus has been plagued by prolonged water shortages in restrooms unchecked garbage accumulation and related issues Students claim they have faced these problems for several yearsBroken taps dirty toiletsSabareesh Pillay a finalyear LLB student at the Thane subcampus described the situation saying ldquoBroken water taps basins and dirty toilets have become a common sight in recent months The conservancy staff only visits once every two weeks leaving the premises unclean with garbage piling up in many places Most of the time there is no water in the toilets Even after repeated complaints it took until Monday to restore water to the toiletsrdquoAlso read Thane 32yearold man injured after tree collapses near Wagle EstateStudents report that despite having toilets on every floor only those on the ground floor are functional Pillay said ldquoThis is a threestorey building with girlsrsquo and boysrsquo toilets on each floor However due to water shortages the toilets on the first and second floors are closed The ceiling of the girlsrsquo toilet on the second floor was damaged recently and has not been repaired yet Students have even spotted rats near the water filter nozzlesrdquoInsufficient facultyInsufficient faculty in various subjects has also been a major concern among students Pratham Somwani a fourthyear LLB student and deputy general secretary of the Moot Court Association said ldquoOver the past two weeks lectures have been conducted online due to frequent power cuts Three out of six subjects have no faculty Additionally two faculty members have expressed their inability to conduct lectures This situation exists in the second and third years as well Lectures are irregular and ID cards have not been issued to us yet We were told we would receive a new ID card every year but last year we received one after six months Even our juniors who are not yet in their second year have completed four semesters and are still awaiting their ID cardsrdquoSomwani continued ldquoI have never seen the library open in the four years I have been on campus Despite charging Rs 1500 at the time of admission canteens remain closed due to water scarcity The toilets emit a foul odour even when you are in the corridor Moreover despite the Rs 50000 we pay annually in exam fees they charge us an additional Rs 1600 for exams and do not provide receiptsrdquoA water cooler and broken toilet on the campusIssues neglectedAnother thirdyear student said ldquoWe have approached the director of the campus multiple times but our issues are neglected We wrote to him listing down 22 different issues we are facing However nothing has been done to resolve these issuesrdquo The students have appealed to the Bar Council of India to intervene in this matter and provide assistanceRs 25LFees for 5year LLB course