Its boundary wall in ruins,MU moves to fortify campus

Spread over 253 acres,the Kalina campus houses various departments,four hostels and the Vice-Chancellor’s residence.

As there is no proper wall surrounding the campus at several places,sources alleged that drug addicts and miscreants enter the campus late in the evening and occupy the buildings which are under construction.

People from nearby Bharat Nagar climb the compound wall and use the varsity premises as a toilet,they alleged.

The height of the compound wall has reduced to three feet. This is primarily due to dumping of debris by outsiders. Also,the wall is broken at some places of the

campus.

The letter recommends that the university should either increase the number of permanent security personnel or raise the height of the wall. The varsity has over 100 security personnel.

However,all of them are not permanent employees.

“The wall requires immediate repair at certain places as it has either been broken by encroachers or has collapsed due to natural causes. In any case,this will soon lead to anti-social activities in the campus. There have been several instances when we have tried to stop these people from entering the campus and they have retaliated by pelting stones,” said a university security personnel.

Naresh Chandra,Pro Vice Chancellor of MU, said,“We have already reviewed the security on campus. We will soon chalk out plans to increase the number of

security personnel.”

Officials from the security department alleged that there are times when their duty hours stretch to 32 or 40 hours.

“We do not have adequate security personnel to guard the campus. Though we have been instructed to guard the campus round-the-clock,our duty hours stretch to more than 24 hours at times if a guard fails to report for duty,” said a security official. An official of the university,however,refuted this claim. “There is adequate manpower in the security department,” he said.

Some senate and faculty members also claimed that the number of security personnel on campus was not adequate.

“There is a need for increasing security personnel. There have been many thefts on the campus and we must not wait for something worse to happen. There are half-constructed structures in some corners of the campus and this may lead to criminal activities like the recent Shakti Mill case. This is the scenario when the Vice Chancellor himself stays on the same campus. It seems he has turned a blind eye to this

issue,” said senate member Sanjay Vairal.

A student who resides in the girls’ hostel said,“The campus is vast. Once lectures are over,it is usually deserted. The streetlights are not enough and there are various dark pockets. We are scared to move around the campus.”