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Jesus and Mary College (JMC),  faces an immense water shortage everyday in terms of drinking water and water in washrooms. DU Beat brings to the extent of the problem and the reasons why.  

The students of Jesus and Mary College (JMC), Chanakyapuri have been facing major problems due to the lack of availability of drinking water and water in washrooms. The college, undergoing continuous constructions since the past many years, has two washrooms for girls located on each floor and a water dispenser for drinking water outside those washrooms. However, the washrooms run out of water in a couple of hours in the morning everyday and so do the drinking water dispensers.

“Jesus and Mary college does not have pipelines installed in the college which is why there’s always a water shortage in the college. The entire college has just one tank installed which gets exhausted within very less time,” says a second year student of Jesus and Mary College who wishes to remain anonymous.

“Our college has plenty of water available, except it’s not in the taps but on the floors,” says Ananya Chopra, a second year student of Jesus and Mary College. The washrooms reek of an unbearably strong odour and a dozen sanitary infections caused by the lack of hygiene. The flush installed barely ever works, there is no provision for soaps and the floors are always wet.

The inadequate washroom facilities are matched by the lack of availability of free drinking water. “Since drinking water is not available in our college, we have to go buy a bottle of water every day. Only half the washrooms are generally open and by the afternoon, there is no water available,” says Shiyona Biju, a second year student of B.Com. (Hons.) at Jesus and Mary College.

“Everyday, I am faced with water-less toilet facilities. Juxtapositional to dysfunctional flush, spray and basin systems are the perennial tap-leakages, wet floors and oh-so-wet wash basins; water at unusual spaces, basically. It’s needless to say yet I’ll say that our toilets are unhygienic, smelly, and highly dysfunctional. I’d really like to find out what degree of cash-crunch the college is facing to not be able to employ effective maintenance resources,” says Devanshi Jindal, a second year student of B.Com.(Hons.) at Jesus and Mary College.

DU Beat tried to reach out to the administration for a comment but was unable to get a response. The students of Jesus and Mary College wait with bated breath for some form of structural or tangible change and wonder why the college exposes them to such an inadequacy of basic necessities such as drinking water and hygienic washrooms.

Feature Image Credits: Ranjit John Architects

Muskan Sethi

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With the soaring heat in the capital, water remains the prime commodity. Even more so for the students living in the hostels Under Graduate Girls Hostel who are suffering from acute water shortages.

On Saturday after waiting for the officials for more than six hours and trying to lodge complaints to various departments, the women from Undergraduate Hostel for Girls protested in front of the provost house. This protest followed an attempt by the hostellers to file a report at the Mukherjee Nagar Police Station where their issues were not addressed.

For over two months now, the supply of water had been scarce, leading to sanitary and health issues. Often, there was no water supply for three consecutive days, which made the living conditions of these hostels unbearable. There have been cases where severe infections and diarrhea due to unclean, saline water were reported.

The problem allegedly has risen due to the dysfunction and repair of the internal hostel pipeline which was claimed by the authorities as a reduced supply from water sources. The promised supply from the Delhi Jal Board had been inconsistent and the water in the two tankers that reached for 650 girls in the hostel was saline and dirty. There were instances where the water was muddy. Furthermore, the gravest concern was the lack of response and attention from the concerned authorities over the issue, the silence of whom enraged the hostelers even more.

The students waited till late night for Ms. Rita Kakkar, the provost, to respond to their needs. A statement by the Delhi Cabinet Minister, Kapil Mishra was released, wherein the issue has been addressed and the cooperation of the Delhi Jal Board has been promised until the internal hostel pipeline is repaired.  The work is expected to be complete within two days and normal water supply to be resumed.

With inputs from Srivedant Kar for DU Beat and Kirti of UGHG
Image by Kriti of UGHG

Shefali Bharati

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