BU campus inspection presents shameful portrait of negligence

Ill-maintained laboratories, damp walls greet Registrar

Registrar (Administration), Bangalore University, B.C. Mylarappa, went for a visit to UVCE College in Bangalore on Saturday. Condition of the Boys Hostel kitchen near Govt College. Photo: K. Gopinathan

Close on the heels of the inspection at the Jnana Bharathi campus, Bangalore University (BU) Registrar B.C. Mylarappa embarked on another “inspection” of the Central College campus, hostels and the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) on Saturday.

The picture, much like the one that emerged at the other campus, was grim: poor and crumbling infrastructure, ill-maintained laboratories, roofs that barely protect the lab machinery (now festooned with bird droppings and layers of dust) and toilets with half-broken, rusty doors.

Overall, it was a portrait of negligence by college authorities at one of the largest universities in India, and a premier engineering college of Karnataka.

At the mechanical engineering facility, costly practical equipment lay unused, covered in dusty plastic sheets.

At the UVCE boys' hostel, even the Registrar was shocked to see the state of the toilets: over 30 had doors that had worn away in the lower half, providing zero privacy to students. The kitchen too was unhygienic and poorly maintained. Students' rooms had walls that were damp and peeling off in parts, and windows were found broken or even absent in some cases. The Registrar interacted with some students who said that repeated promises to repair had just not materialised.

‘No initiative'

Mr. Mylarappa, who said he was shocked and upset, announced he would issue immediate orders to the university engineer to replace doors by Wednesday. He also spoke about the plans to demolish the main hostel complex, including the kitchen and dining halls.

“I will place this before the Works Committee meeting and Syndicate on Monday. It isn't that we don't have the funds; we lack the initiative,” he said.