Surya Sen Hall goes decrepit

The most ill-maintained have been the toilets and bathrooms. Water clogging there leaks through the drainage pipes and eventually seeps through the whole building, its scaffolding and inner parts. In the process, the whole structure is weakened and higher the residential hall greater the insidious decaying of its vitals.

Dhaka University Vice-chancellor S M A Faiz says, "We will invite engineers from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to inspect the hall and then take necessary steps". What was he waiting for; what stopped him from bringing together experts to evaluate the safety status of the hall so far?

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That the Surya Sen Hall required to be done up on an emergency footing couldn't be in any doubt whatsoever. Yet, why has it been allowed to decay over time to reach a point of possible collapse? Once we raise a building, we think it will keep standing and functioning for good without the need for routine maintenance. This actually brings to bold relief the measly budgetary allocation for maintenance work. The annual allocation for the purpose, or shall we say, under the miscellany head, is Tk 1.5crore while at least Tk 11crore is required to tide over the present difficulties.

It is said we are a cashs trapped country with little to spare for the upkeep. We would like to turn around the phrase to say we are too poor not to spend money for maintenance. We cannot have new buildings for the asking; so we have to maintain the old ones for as long as they can last.

Our concern is not solely for Surya Sen Hall. Its present virtually derelict condition has served as an eye-opener to the state of other university residential halls, administrative complexes and academic buildings, some of which we may not feel secure about. So, we implore the DU authorities to immediately form a composite committee of experts to look into all aspects of safety pertaining to the university buildings and suggest corrective steps.