JNU's termite-infested lab stuck in war between two departments. Who will clear the rot now?

A few days ago, the researchers of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for the Study of Regional Development had alleged that their research samples were lost after the lab got infested by termites. They had also accused the previous occupants of the lab building of not removing scrap from the terrace, causing seepage.

After writing several letters to the administration seeking immediate action, they say that the previous occupants of the building, the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine, have agreed to move the scrap from the terrace if their supervisor pays for it. "This is not fair. Why should our supervisor pay for it?" asks Elora, a researcher, who had all of her research samples destroyed. Elora was among the first to discover the state of the laboratory. "This was after the researchers wrote a letter saying that if the load isn't removed, we will discard it, " says Ishita Manna, another researcher. She adds that there hasn't been any initiation on removing the junk, after that.

At the same time, the JNU Students' Union had met the university's Rector Chintamani Mahapatra about this issue. Their demands to him included immediate removing the junk from the laboratory, sending staff to check the amount of radioactivity, compensation to the students whose sample got destroyed and renovation of the lab in an urgent basis. "The Rector I has assured us that the Administration will look into the matter immediately," read the union's statement issued on Thursday. Elora, on the other hand, says that no action has been taken by the administration yet.