MADURAI: Damaged and leaking roof tiles; broken window panes; cracked walls and spooky spiderweb with thick layer of dust around. This is no setting of any haunted house in ghostlore, but is the current condition of the hostels of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU).
Blame it on the lack of maintenance, it's these ghostly scenes that welcomed the inmates of the five hostels of the university - VOC (for Ph.d., students) Kavimani (for 1st year boys), Bharathi (for 2nd year boys), Thiruvalluvar and Bharathidasan (for M.B.A male students), Kurunji (for girl research scholars), Maligai (for 2nd year girls) and Thamarai (for 1st year girls) - when they returned after the Covid-induced break of one-and-a-half years.
Plus, sources said during the peak of the pandemic, the hostels were converted as Covid wards to accommodate scores of patients. "In MKU, MBA is a residential programme and it is mandatory for the students to stay in the hostel. At present bathroom doors are all worn-out, roof tiles damaged. The students have plugged the gap on the broken window panes with old newspapers in order to prevent insects from entering the room," they said adding that now the hostels are also battling against mosquito menace.
Speaking to TNIE, a girl student, who preferred anonymity said a few electrical wires in her hostel have snapped and are leaking. "This apart, there is a thick layer of algae on the walls and on the terrace due to a leak in water tank. Now, regular cleaning is lacking and there is no place to throw used sanitary napkins. The incinerator in the bathroom is also not working," she pointed out.
An inmate of the boy's hostel said poisonous insects are often entering hostel rooms through the cracks on the broken windows and doors. "A stench is emanating from the unclean toilets. As the electricity junction boxes are broken, the hostellers are living under the threat of getting electric shock any time," he said.
When asked, Director for Boys Hostel, S Pari Parameswaran, said the hostel needs some repair and that it will be carried out soon. "The electricity junction boxes and doors were damaged by a few students deliberately," he said, adding as the MBA hostel is remaining shut now after a few inmates tested Covid positive, repair works of the hostel will be carried out soon.
Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI), Karaikudi and Governor nominee in the Convener Committee of MKU, S Vasudevan, assured to look into the issue.
MKU Registrar (i/c) VS Vasantha was not available for a comment.