Hundreds of students of Bangalore University have been told to vacate their hostel rooms immediately as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wants to take over two hostels in the varsity’s Jnanabharathi campus so that they can be converted into Covid Care Centres (CCCs).
Vice Chancellor K.R. Venugopal said that the State government had requested them to vacate two of the hostels, where 750 beds could be set up. “One is a ladies’ hostel and will have to be vacated. Our other hostel, which was supposed to accommodate women students from North Eastern States, is vacant. We will hand that over as well,” he said.
A student told The Hindu that she received a message on Monday night from a friend in the hostel stating that they had to clear their rooms. and had to make arrangements to shift her luggage.
Students said it would have helped if they had been alerted in advance rather than at the last minute. “For so many weeks, there was a lockdown. The government should have used the time to prepare for the surge in cases,” said the student.
According to Professor Venugopal, if things get critical, they may have to vacate more hostels. “Students should not worry, the entire hostel will be disinfected before rooms are re-allotted,” he said.
Dayananda Sagar University has also been asked to provide a hostel to set up a 250-bed Covid Care Centre.
