Three days of power outage at dorms unjustifiable

It is disconcerting that students of some dormitories in Cumilla University had to face hardships without electricity for three days. What sounds further inconceivable is that there was electricity in the administrative and academic buildings of the university, but the following halls had to run without this essential service from March 16 till March 19: Nawab Faizunnesa Chowdhurani, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Shaheed Dhirendranath halls. Reportedly, students formed a human chain in front of the Vice Chancellor's residence recently demanding immediate restoration of this essential utility connection—until electricity was temporarily restored after three days. 

As a result of the blackout, there was no water in the washrooms, and the students had to go without a bath in this humid weather. And, most importantly, they could not study at night in the darkness, due to which they could not prepare for exams and submit their assignments. Who will take the responsibility for what the students had to endure? 

With coronavirus cases going down in recent months, the government has taken the decision to allow all educational institutions to open and resume academic sessions. As a result, university students now look forward to uninterrupted academic sessions after the loss of over two years because of Covid-19 pandemic. They are gearing up to complete the courses within the stipulated time so that the loss of two years can be compensated by obtaining the graduation certificate and entering the job market. At such a critical time, keeping the students of four halls of Cumilla University without electricity for days is even more unacceptable. 

The ineptness of the university authorities becomes frustratingly tangible when students tell us that the engineering department of the university could not find out for three days the cause of the power outage. And during this time, we saw another classic case of passing the buck, instead of the authorities taking responsibility and acting promptly to restore the electricity.

   Our simple questions are: why did it take the authorities three days to restore power temporarily by pulling an alternative line from somewhere else? Why couldn't this have been done earlier? Aren't students the lifeblood of a university? In any case, we are pleased that power has temporarily been restored at the dormitories. However, it needs to be investigated why it took the authorities so long to act, despite the sufferings of the students.