The Jawaharlal Nehru University is known for a lot of things - a place for top scholars, the most diverse, the most liberal and a hotbed for student politics. What else is it known for? Water shortage. The JNU students have faced water problems in the past too but now they say that the academic buildings on campus haven't had a drop of water in the last one week!
The students are holding a protest against the Delhi Jal Board Office and are demanding an immediate release. Geeta Kumari, the previous Student Union President said that the campus has always faced water problems during the summer but it has never gone on for this long, all the way to November. "We've always had issues but they've never been continuous. Now and then we would have some shortage," she said.
While the water status continues to be bad in the hostels, the academic buildings have not seen a drop of water in the last week. "It is an extremely unhygienic situation. The restrooms are smelling and we are unable to do anything about it," she said. In the hostels, the students say that the water stops after 11am, "Sometime if a lot of students go on vacation then the water lasts till about 2pm, but after that we have no water at all." But the situation of the academic buildings has got the students fuming.
According to the students, JNU used to receive about 25 units of water previously but now they are only receiving five percent. "We have no idea where the rest of the water is going. Initially we thought because the Haryana government is struggling with water issues that that was what was affecting us too. But then the maintenance staff told us that we are supposed to get 25 units and our hostels and other academic buildings are only receiving five percent of that water," he said.
The previous student union and the present students claim they have sent several letters and requests to the administration to look into the issue but they have not received a positive response from anybody. This is why the students have decided to go on a protest today in front of the Delhi Jal Board Office, Jandhewala, Karol Bagh.
