BHUBANESWAR: Unrest prevailed in Utkal University on Tuesday as hundreds of students staged a protest and blocked the main gate over delay in restoration of electricity on the campus. The students alleged that despite their active participation in rebuilding work post-cyclone Fani, the power supply is yet to be restored in the university. Hundreds of students staying in hostels are facing serious inconvenience due to delay in restoration of power which in turn has also affected water supply, said an agitator.
“Many of us stayed back at hostels during the cyclone in view of the examinations. However, we are facing lot of difficulties due to unavailability of power and water,” said another agitating student. It is unfortunate that despite being located in the heart of the City, the university is yet to get electricity, he added.
Some of the university staff said electricity has also not been restored in the administrative block and they are depending on DG sets for power. Later on the day, the agitating students called of their protest after university authorities assured that power will be restored soon.
University Registrar Dayanidhi Nayak said the authorities are concerned about the students and have urged CESU to restore power at the earliest. Electricity is expected to be restored in a day or two, he said. The extremely severe cyclonic storm, which battered Odisha on May 3, has caused extensive damage to the university’s green cover as well as infrastructure. Around 200 utility poles and electricity cables have been completely damaged inside the campus.
Nayak said preliminary estimate suggests that the university has sustained damage to a tune of `109 crore in the cyclone. He further said since it will take some time for the Government to sanction assistance, the university has provided an immediate grant of `20,000 to each department and `15,000 to each hostel for repairing broken water pipes and snapped power lines before the commencement of examinations. The university has postponed its examinations till May 21 in view of the damage caused to the infrastructure by cyclone Fani.