Rain, rust and red tape: PU hostels mock Chandigarh's clean city tag

Time of India

19 hours ago

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Chandigarh: Just days after Chandigarh bagged the title of India's second cleanest city among big cities in the Swachh Survekshan rankings, a walk through Panjab University's hostels offers a jarring contrast - discarded furniture, rusting coolers, broken racks and wooden scraps lie dumped in open corners and backyards, untouched for years.
While the city basks in its Swachh Bharat glory, the university hostels seem battling health and hygiene risk bureaucratic inertia, a scene that's less "clean city" and more "dump yard in progress."
Despite repeated complaints by students, the junk has remained untouched for months, with many items reportedly lying there for over two years. Research scholar Shispal Sheokand, who flagged the issue recently, said he submitted a formal memorandum to Dean Students Welfare (DSW) Prof Amit Chauhan, urging immediate clearance of the trash before it leads to a health crisis.
"This isn't just about aesthetics. These rotting wooden frames and rusted metal coolers invite disease, especially during the rains," Sheokand said.
Prof Bharadwaj Bargai, the newly appointed warden of Boys Hostel No. 5, admitted the problem was long pending. "Most of this furniture has been lying here since around two years. We are aware of the issue and are taking steps to dispose it off soon," he said.
A walk through Boys Hostel No.
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3 reveals a similar scene, half-broken furniture, twisted almirahs, plastic chairs with missing legs, and outdated electrical fixtures piled against walls.
Officials in the university's administration wing privately admit that even without the protest-related disruptions, the process of auctioning junk furniture has historically been slow and bogged down by procedural red tape. "Even small decisions go through multiple departments," said a staffer, requesting anonymity.
Students argue that bureaucratic delays shouldn't put their health at risk. "It's ironic that a top-ranked university can't manage basic hygiene in its hostels," said Divyansh, a research scholar from the Anthropology department.
With the monsoon picking up, the university's sluggish response to hostel sanitation has once again highlighted the cost of institutional inertia.
Responding to the issue, DSW Prof Amit Chauhan explained that there is a procedure in place for disposing of discarded items, but the process takes time. "Hostel authorities first prepare an inventory and submit it to the university administration. Once approved, the materials are auctioned off to external bidders. Unfortunately, this time the process was delayed because the DSW office was shut down in April and part of May due to student protests," he said.