Water scarcity in Mangaluru: NITK will advance classes and exams

MANGALURU: The National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, has decided to advance the final year UG (B.Tech) and first year PG classes and examinations by at least two weeks due to the prevailing water crisis in the city.
About 2,000 students will go on vacation soon after their exams, which will ensure that others do not suffer hardship because of the probable water shortage on the campus.
Every day, NITK, with more than 6,000 students, utilises a total of 10 lakh litres of water supplied by the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC). However, the water supply from MCC has dipped to 3.5 lakh litres a day over the past three weeks. As a result, the institution is now managing resources using internal water sources and tanker water.
Vidya Shetty K, dean (academics) told TOI that the institution decided to advance classes and examination of final year B.Tech and first year PG courses as they foresee possible acute water scarcity this summer. “In order to advance the examinations, we are now conducting full-day classes for students on Saturdays and Sundays.
As per the original calendar of events, classes for these courses would end on April 21 and immediately go for examinations that end by the first week of May. As per the new plans, the classes will end on April 12 and the examinations by April 24, following which, all the candidates who have completed exams will go on vacation,”
"We cannot advance the classes of other UG and PG courses since they started late due to the pandemic and also have lab examinations. We plan to advance the examination of third year UG, but it is yet to be finalised," he said.
"We are advancing classes by two weeks for final year UG and first year PG, but the number of teaching days will remain the same as classes are held on Saturdays and Sundays. There will be no compromise on quality of teaching," said Narendranath S, dean (students affairs), NITK, Surathkal.