At CCCT, its 385 students on a 19 acre campus without water supply!

A fire hose sits in its bracket as a cruel example of departmental superfluity in a campus which has been kept without a water supply connection for five years now.

GANGTOK, 22 June: A single bucket of water for three persons per day is what one has to manage with if that person happens to be a student at the Centre for Computers and Communication Technology [CCCT] Polytechnic College at Chisopani near Jorethang!
A total of 385 students study here, 150 boys and 85 girls staying at the hostels as boarders and there is no provision for clean drinking water. With the only water purification system at the massive 19 acre not in working condition and the failure of the electro chlorine machine that decontaminates the water, students here are compelled to drink and use water which comes in water tankers that ferry water straight from the jhora a few kilometers from Jorethang enroute to Melli.

It may be informed that ever since the institute took over the complex from the HRD Department way back in 2006, there has been no provision for a direct water supply for the complex which is also fast gaining reputation as one of the premier polytechnic colleges in the region. The complex houses 8 Blocks which include hostels for boys and girls, the college and quarters for the faculty.
When NOW! interacted with some of the students in the hostel which ‘cramps’ three students in one room, the rooms were found in shambles, the fans have stopped working, naked electric wires sprout from walls, broken doors, cracked walls and a useless fire hydrant complete the picture. One can presume the safety standards being maintained here.
The hostel fee was Rs.1100 previously which has now been increased to Rs.2100.
“We have come here from far off states and have been denied facilities as mentioned in the advertisement brochures. There are hardly any recreational facilities here and the ground has now become a jungle. The administration keeps on raising the fees on their own whims and fancies and in return there is not even basic comfort for us. We have raised this issue many times but still we have been unheard,” the students complain.
“Taking a bath here is a luxury, getting clean water to drink is something which we struggle everyday to stock for ourselves in this heat. We are students and instead of spending time studying, we have to line up with a bucket everyday when the tankers arrive. And the provision of the water tanker has been initiated after we literally begged the administration to do so.”
It may also be mentioned that there are no chairs and tables for the students and as one third year student puts it, “We have never studied on a table since the three beds cramped inside this little room cannot accommodate anything more. And that is if we were provided with tables and chairs. Since I started college here I have been studying on my bed like the rest of the boarders since the heat does not let us go outside.”
This is the plight of the students who say that none of the recreational and other facilities promised in the prospectus were provided to them. Further, one of the major complains of the students here is the quality of food being served here at the mess.
When this reporter investigated the kitchen and the refectory, the condition was shocking! The mess staff has violated all hygiene and safety norms. The utensils looked as if they had never been washed, the stoves were all covered in muck, and there was slush all over the flooring. According to the students, the food provided here is “disgusting” even when the administration is charging them Rs.1500 per month, which has been increased this year from Rs.700.
When NOW! spoke to the Principal of the institute, RGK Nair; he acknowledged that there were some discrepancies which needed to be worked out. He admitted that the complex had not undergone a major repair and renovation work in the past five years and that direct water supply to the institute was still awaited.
The principal also said that he could not comment on the state of the rooms since it was designed and built by the HRDD who tendered the work to a private contractor. Further, it may also be informed that these complaints were notified to the authorities by the students themselves and not the administration.
“We have made an observation, compiled all the complaints and have also brought this to the notice of the Director of Technical education wing of the HRDD; however we have still not received and concrete works apart from the assurances, he explained.
He also said that direct water supply to the complex was a work which had to be initiated by the RM&DD, which however, has failed to deliver a dedicated water connection to the institute and has not responded to the appeal of the CCCT administration.
What is even astounding is that the water supply problem was later identified as a project of the RM&DD, so why did the builders not verify and complete the works before handing over the project to the CCCT.
It may also be said that source of water supply to the area has been identified from Tokal- Rangit, which is a project which has still remained stagnant for more than 5 years now.
The principal also commented that the institute still needed more staff and that the contractor, Annapurna Mess, which was awarded the tender for running of the mess, had also been served a 2 month notice of termination and that the work will be now awarded to an eligible party.
“It is indeed a matter of concern; we are spending our finances, losing time and have tremendous tension. We want to resolve this communication gap. We had also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister but the authorities have still not acknowledged the same,” he said.