After literally ‘buying’ education paying huge amounts of fee students of English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) are now forced to buy even drinking water for survival.
Bottles of packaged drinking water in the hostel rooms is a common scene on the EFLU campus as most students are forced to buy water from private agencies as they dread the usage of contaminated water supplied to them on the campus. Harish, one of the many daily water suppliers, who drives in his mini-tempo every morning and evening says, “We supply purified water to more than 100 students in EFLU, everyday, as students don’t mind paying for it at Rs. 25 for 20 litres”. Poor students depending on the scholarships have no option but to live with what is supplied in the campus.
Potable and clean drinking water availability is an issue on the campus with complaints of inadequate supply and contamination. The shortage of water supply from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has forced the university to mix the drinking water and borewell water. Many students allege that this mixing has led to water contamination as there is no water purification plant in the institute. Question marks are also being raised about the maintenance of the water tanks and even the water purifiers installed in hostels.
The main water tank next to the Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMMRC) has not been treated for the last three years, charge research scholars. “The water tank is not cleaned regularly,” says a security guard, working inside the campus.
Such is the wariness about water in the campus that a majority of the students make their own arrangements. A senior student says, “water purifiers and coolers are not cleaned properly. It is better to get our own bottles from home.” However, institute authorities claim that the cleanliness of water purifiers is treated with priority and is practised every month. Of course, students deny this and say why they would buy if potable water is supplied. For a central university with an international character, it is sad that a basic amenity like clean drinking water continues to lurk behind the priorities.
