Only two toilets for 270 in Srikakulam BC hostel

Building owner fails to take up repair works citing non-payment of rents since Oct 2017
Dilapidated condition of the hostel building at the Arts College Road in Srikakulam and unhygienic conditions in the hostel (Photo |EPS)
Dilapidated condition of the hostel building at the Arts College Road in Srikakulam and unhygienic conditions in the hostel (Photo |EPS)

SRIKAKULAM:  More than 270 students are forced to stay in a BC welfare boys post-matric hostel situated near the Arts College in Srikakulam as against the capacity of 150 students. So worse is the condition that only two bathrooms are functioning in the hostel out of the six. 

To take bath students to wake up at 3 am daily. Some of the students go to colleges without bathing. What’s more even the septic tank fills up every 10 days because of the overcrowded hostel rooms. 
The students in some of the hostel rooms stay without a fan and even light at night. Although doors of the bathrooms were damaged months ago, the management did nothing to repair/restore them. 

With the closure of the Arts College hostel, outstation students were accommodated in the existing BC Welfare Hostel in the city. Although the strength in the existing hostels in the city was increased, officials did not provide amenities proportionately. With no space left on the hostel premises, the students throw food waste near the bathrooms. Due to poor sanitation, three students were found suffering from fever on Tuesday evening by the time TNIE visited the hostel.

“We have to wake up at 3 am daily to form queue lines for bathing,” K Satyannarayana, a BSc third-year student, said. He also said that out of six, only two bathrooms are in a working condition. About 15 to 20 students are forced to stay in each small room. No fans and even lights were put up in some rooms. Even food is also not good sometimes, the student added. 

When contacted, hostel welfare officer Guruvulu said that earlier, there were only 150 students in the hostel. After the closure of the Arts College hostel, about 120 more students were accommodated in the BC hostel. The hostel was shifted to Srikakulam from Sompeta in 2017 on the ground of a decreasing number of students. 

The hostel is maintained in a rented building near the Arts College in Srikakulam. The rent is pending since October 2017 due to which the building owner did not take up any repair works. Similarly, diet pills have also been pending for the past several years. “I took personal loans to maintain the hostel,” he added. Guruvulu also said that they were planning to shift the hostel to another room in the next few days.

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