Thousands of students of Dhaka University (DU) are living in a risky condition in different dormitories as many of their infrastructures have already become outdated.
According to structural engineers and experts, any kind of tragedy may occur in such buildings if an earthquake with a moderate to strong magnitude struck the city.
But the DU authorities have no concern over the matter, and even the engineering section of the University does not know when the lifespan of the buildings would expire.
The students are still living in these buildings, which have already been declared out of date by experts a few years back.
Sources said ‘Sontosh Chandra Bhattacharya Bhaban,’ one of the four buildings of Jagannath Hall was declared rejected and ‘extremely’ vulnerable to earthquake by a team comprising experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and the Geology Department of DU in 2006.But right now, over 800 students are living in the building.
The sources further said ‘Honours Building’ of Begum Rokeya Hall was rejected two years ago and a proposal was submitted to the government by the DU authorities to reconstruct the building but it is yet to implement.
Though the 88-year old Salimullah Muslim Hall and Shahidullah Hall repaired and redecorated recently, they are not totally out of danger, experts opined.
Moreover, roofs and walls of different halls like Surja Sen Hall, Haji Mohammad Mohsin Hall, Ziaur Rahman Hall and AF Rahman Hall of the university are gradually falling apart leaving the students in hazard. But the repair work of those buildings are seldom carried out.
Azharul Islam, a resident of room No. 523, Ziaur Rahman Hall, told this correspondent that he and his roommates are living in fear as cracks developed in the roof of their room.
Jagannath Hall sources said for the last three years, about 10 students were injured after they had jumped off the building in fear during minor tremors.
Sanjit Kumar Datta, administrative officer of the hall, said construction of a new building is underway on the hall premises. The work has started one year ago and it will take more than seven months to shift the students of Sontosh Chandra Bhattacharya Bhaban, familiar as East Building, there, he added.
DU Vice Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique told The New Nation that “A number of buildings of the University are vulnerable and we will form a committee involving BUET experts soon to assess the vulnerability of the buildings to earthquake.”
