The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Water issue: college in `action' mode

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 13, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Water issue: college in `action' mode

Staff Reporter

Hostel warden relieved from duty; caretaker suspended

RISING CONCERNS: Students vacating Koti Women's College hostel in Hyderabad on Monday in view of other inmates taking ill after consuming contaminated water. -Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

HYDERABAD: Even as seven more students from the Koti Women's College hostel were admitted to the Fever Hospital here on Monday, the college authorities got into damage control mode by relieving the hostel warden, a faculty in the rank of professor, from her duties while the hostel caretaker was suspended.

Higher Education Minister P. Venkateshwar Rao, who paid a surprise visit to the college in the morning, said the possibilities of supplying mineral water to the hostel would be checked out.

Students leave

The day also saw several of the hostel inmates packing their bags and heading home. Though few of them gave the ongoing controversy as the reason, college officials maintained they were leaving since classes were mostly over.

The college management, on fire after the students fell ill apparently due to consumption of contaminated water, said the hostel had already been given a new water connection while the controversial water sump, which had a lock allegedly put on it 10 years ago, was opened and cleaned. Work was also on to clean tanks, pipes, taps and the entire hostel premises. The college also has sent water samples to the Institute of Preventive Medicine, a college official said.

Three water samples

In fact, there are three different sets of water samples with IPM now. This is after IPM officials collected samples on Monday apart from those sent to them by the college and the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, which after a round of inspections is now almost sure that water was the reason behind the illness. As for those undergoing treatment, Fever Hospital resident medical officer J. Arjun Rao said the condition of all the students was stable. Most of those admitted over the last two days were discharged with only around 30 left now. "We are giving only symptomatic treatment and they are fine. In fact, they are enjoying the hospital atmosphere," he said.

Boycotting classes

Earlier, students had boycotted classes while the All India Mahila Samskrutika Sangham (AIMSS) and All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) staged a dharna in front of the institution.

The unions, alleging that the authorities had been ignoring repeated pleas by students to ensure safe drinking water, said the hostel premises were in shambles for a long time with no proper lightings. Inmates even had to put up with the threat of snakes slithering around, they said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh