Blackout: Irked Coimbatore govt college students move out of hostel

COIMBATORE: Hostel students of government polytechnic college in Avinashi road in Coimbatore were forced to stay at rented houses and friends’ houses as the administration failed to resolve the power cut issue on the campus even after three days. Condemning this issue, a group of students staged a protest inside the hostel on Monday night.

A hostel student, C Dinesh (name changed) told TNIE, “An electricity transformer in the campus burst because of a short circuit on Saturday and the entire campus became dark. The students stayed in the dark on Saturday night. The administration has not taken any steps to resolve the issue till now.” “Due to lack of electricity, motor to pump water to the overhead tank couldn’t be switched on, due to which we struggled to use toilet on Sunday. We had to bring water tanker to the hostel by spending money from our own pockets,” he added.

“We staged a protest condemning the administration’s decision on Monday, following which, we were forced to vacate the hostel on Tuesday and instructed us to return on Thursday. Some students have moved to rented houses nearby, while others moved to houses of their friends and relatives temporarily,” he said.
Another student, K Swathi (name changed) told TNIE, “Nearly 200 male students and 35 female students were staying in the hostel. As there was no electricity and water, most of the female students shifted to other places.”

A teaching faculty from the college told TNIE, “The administration rented a generator set for Rs 12,000 per day after the transformer burst and used it for the main block building. As there is no electricity to other buildings, students could not attend the practical classes at labs and classes are affected for the last two days. We have discussed about it with the college principal and the issue is yet to be completely solved.” When asked about it, college principal P Thenmozhi told TNIE, “The transformer was burst due to a low-tension wire issue in it. Despite this, we had ensured electricity through a generator and supplied water through the vehicle. The issue has been rectified now.”