Resident students of Noakhali Science and Technology University of (NSTU) are suffering from various problems including disruption of studies, sleep problems and water crisis due to frequent power outages. Students demanded 24 hours generator facility to get relief from all these sufferings.
According to the students, power outage in two halls of the university for boys and three halls for girls has become a cause of daily suffering. This suffering becomes extreme on the off-days. The level of suffering has increased due to the running of classes in almost all departments and semesters in some departments during the month of Ramadan. Students are struggling to continue their studies. Apart from the halls, the same problem is occurring in the academic buildings of the university. As a result, academic activities are also being adversely affected.
According to university DPD office sources, the generator facility is kept running during a certain period of official order of the university. To keep the generator running longer than the official order, permission from the university authorities will be required and after permission they may take action accordingly.
About the suffering, a resident student of the University’s Bangabandhu Hall said, ” After the examination was over, I came to see that there is no electricity. I heard from my roommate that the power went out a few hours ago. The physical condition is very bad in the heat. Electricity came in the evening, again after 10 minutes it went off. For the preparation of the next exam on the next day, I have work on the laptop. The current went off again. If there is no WiFi, it is not possible to run with mobile data for so long. A lot of searching is required. The laptop turns off after charging. All in all, a lot of frustration works.”
A resident student of Bir Muktijodha ex-speaker Abdul Malek Ukil Hall said that last year we studied during the examination then there was no load shedding which is seen this year. Electricity comes and goes every five minutes due to which we are not able to concentrate on studies. We have to study using candlelight because of the exams, which is sad for us as a university student.
A resident student of Bangamata Hall expressed her anger and said, first of all, due to the increase in temperature, it is very uncomfortable; if there is no electricity, heat stroke is unbearable. It is difficult to do the tasks. There is no WiFi facility.
A resident student of Bibi Khadija Hall said, “The water lines of Khadija Hall are made in such a way that the water first goes to the front block and then to the back block. It can be seen that there is no water when going to class in the morning and there is no water even when you come back in the afternoon. Last year the whole summer went like this. Even though there is water in all the halls, water is not available in the block behind the hall.”
When asked about this, the chief engineer of the university, Mohammad Jamal Hossain, said, “Power is in the hands of the government, we have no control over how long they will provide it.”
Although the electricity is in the hands of the government, the generator facility is in the hands of the university. But why this facility is not provided during power outage. In response to this question, the chief engineer said, “We have an official order as to how many generators will be kept on or for how long.” And if you have to keep the generator running longer than that, there is the money issue. VC Sir or Treasurer Sir is its authority. If they allow extra time to run then we have no problem. We will act accordingly.”
Professor Dr. Newaz Mohammad Bahadur, treasurer of this university, said, we have a generator which is not functioning. Arrangements have been made to fix it.
In this regard, University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Didar-ul-Alam said, we are arranging generators in halls and residential areas during the off-days. There will be a generator during the day. The concerned department has already been informed.