Student hostel ceiling crumbles, rain seeps through

Even though Rajshahi Medical College's Polin hostel for female students has been declared risky, around 150 students live there, 17 of them foreign nationals. Of the three hostels for the medical college's female students, Polin hostel is the oldest. Plaster often crumbles and falls from the ceiling on the third floor of the building. Rain water seeps through and soaks the furniture.

A recent visit to the hostel one afternoon revealed a few of the students drying their mattresses and clothes in the sun on the roof. The hall was sparsely occupied as most of the students had gone home over the Eid vacation. Superintendent Ishita Khanam was present there and told Prothom Alo, "Water seeps through the entire ceiling of room 29." The room was locked so couldn't been seen. However, the plaster from the ceilings of rooms 22 and 27 had crumbled and was strewn all over. There were large cracks in the plaster at places.

One of the students said, "A few days ago a large piece fell onto my bed. Luckily we were out at the time." A section of the prayer room was wet too. Pointing to a crack in the hall, superintendent Ishita Khanam said, "That's where water enters from and soaks everything."

Hostel super Ishita Khanam said, “PWD (Public Works Department) officials have verbally declared the Polin hostel to be risky. They haven’t given anything in writing, so we cannot officially say so. However, living in this hall is very dangerous.” She mentioned that the hostel houses 150 residents. The entire plaster of the southern side balcony has fallen off. Even after being replastered, cracks have reappeared.

Next to the Polin hostel is the Falguni hostel. Though it has been painted on the outside, no renovation has been done inside. Ishita Khanam said that a fire last March damaged the electrical lines. Although Tk 3 million (Tk 30 lakh) of work was done, the contractor left it unfinished due to unpaid bills. She said, “The electrical lines are still hazardous. A fire could break out at any time. Some rooms are damp and damaged, so students don’t want to stay there.”

The six-storey Ayesha hostel, built in 2006, accommodates 354 residents. The super said, “Up to the third floor, the bathrooms have no tiles. They’ve become unusable. The bathrooms were built without tiles from the start. No initiative for renovation has been taken up so far.”

Construction of a new 10-storey building next to the Falguni hostel began in 2023. After completing the walls up to the fourth floor, work came to a halt. According to the Public Works Department, approximately Tk 150 million (Tk 15 crore) was allocated for the project, of which work worth Tk 100 million (Tk 10 crore) has been completed. The medical college authorities have proposed that if the constructed portion is suitable for use, the students from the Polin hostel could be relocated there. However, no progress has been made in this regard.

Abu Hayat Muhammad Shakiul Azam, executive engineer of Rajshahi Public Works Division-2, said that they had asked for around Tk 60 million Tk 6 crore) to complete the remaining work on the first four floors and constructing the fifth to seventh floors. He said that an application was sent to the Director General of Health Education in January, but no response has been received so far. He further stated that this was a project from the tenure of the previous government, and the change in government is the reason it has come to a halt.

Principal of Rajshahi Medical College Md Faisal Alam told Prothom Alo that Polin hostel is the oldest and the students are living in hazardous conditions there. In recent times the number of female students has increased compared to male students. There is also a hostel crisis for the intern physicians. It is extremely urgent that the remaining work on the new building be completed immediately.