After the nail-biting wait of a month, the students of Government Arts College in Munnar breathed easy as the authorities finally provided them with an alternative facility. They will now continue with their classes at the Government Engineering College campus.

The students were left stranded in the monsoon mayhem of August after a massive landslide ripped through the Arts College campus. While the Educational Department had later provided them with an alternative facility at the Engineering College, the students had to sit in poor conditions. The authorities had allotted them a building that had been poorly maintained for years, with cattle moving around day and night.

This resulted in the students to protest on the National Highway on Monday, demanding the authorities take necessary action at the earliest. The protest was withdrawn after the district panchayat president Kochuthresia Poulose promised to give them a proper facility.

The required maintenance work has now been conducted on the building. Toilet facilities have been set up making use of the e-toilet put up by the administration for the Neelakurinji season. The college needs 18 classrooms to accommodate its students, including the first-years. Complete facilities are expected to be provided by next Monday.

Providing temporary facility at the engineering college when a number of unused government buildings are available in Munnar to accommodate the students is cited to have resulted in the issue cropping up.