No technical or man made problem can be solved in a jiffy and the same holds true for GITAM university,today will be remembered as a red lettered day in the history of GITAM University Hyderabad (wait,Does it have any ?it is but only,an yr old!!).
DÉJÀ VU:
The variety of problems encountered today,are as diverse as all the problems experiences in the First year of operation(2009-2010),GITAM buses coming late or getting caught up in heavy traffic else a COP stopping the bus and not allowing it to go free,till the management steps in and deals with him,or a part of the road being washed away en route the campus,or having an extra long sports session and finding that there is an acute shortage of drinking water and water in the washrooms too..
We have seen all these problems spread across a varied time frame,but today was different from the previous year in only one major way(and a zillion minute ones :D),the above mentioned problems were previously spread over various days,but today they all occurred simultaneously right from a water problem(no there was no shortage of water in the boys hostel,the water pump(motor) got its ass burned!!!
And with the over head water tanks(oh yeah branded water tanks:Sintex!),running out of water pretty soon,the whole boys hostel was on a hunting mission for water and obviously the wardens(who were earlier oblivious of the water crisis,since they occupy a room in the B-Block:Can’t blame them!),till they reached the campus.
Now,lets cut short the introduction since I have a pretty eerie feeling that this post,by no means will be short,since today has been really troublesome,not just for the students but for the management alike,but the people who suffered most due to today's problems,are all those young boys in the boys hostel(seniors and juniors alike),who had to battle with themselves and control not just their anger but various other things,trust me this is not an easy task(imagine having to answer an emergency nature call,and having to hold back for over 2-3 hrs!!),and the way the day ended,it was even more pathetic,but later at night read(10:30 odd),the things slowly started getting better(from terribly worst to better is but a commendable transformation-remember hostellers,it could have been even worst!).
BUSES DELAYED:
Coming back to the buses issue,this is very simple,a couple of kilometres prior to the Patancheru toll gate,there is place called RCpuram,and a lake broke free here,a week or so ago,due to the heavy rains(Yes!these were the same wave of rainfalls which transformed the normal GITAM hostels into lake view hostels ),and this trouble was on for some quite some time(a week or so).
This situation obviously got out of hand today,even thought the seniors buses have been coming into the campus a little late than usual,today other problems added fuel to the fire.
The narayanguda bus,was stuck up in a traffic jam,as the route it normally takes via the lingampally main road(down the railway bridge),was totally packed up with water and hence it had to take by-pass road,which as the name suggest is supposed to by pass the lingampally area,but it compounded the problem as the railways gates were down,when the bus arrived at the gates.
After waiting for close to 6(??) trains to cross,the bus was finally able to pull it self back on track,but just as it happens in our typical Bollywood movies,the bus had another mission to accomplish.
JNTU:
The JNTU(citation needed:was it JNTU??) bus(a private bus:hired for a couple of weeks),was stopped by cops or some inspector at the toll gate of Patancheru,and then the students of this particular bus were forced to squeeze(I aren’t using a superlative word,it was literally equivalent to squeezing oneself!)into the narayanguda bus,while on the other hand a bus which made it onto the campus left from Rudraram to the Toll gate in order to pick up the rest of the stranded students.
It was a total fiasco!(reminiscent of the First semester incidents for the seniors!)
QUIZ:
The quizzes which were supposed to be held during the first period of the day,had to be postponed to a different date(probably tomorrow),as the last set of students walked in at about 10:00 odd,leaving only 10 mins for the first period(senior timings).
These were the various bus issues,which probably ended up giving the seniors a reminder of their hardships in the previous year.(A point to be noted that,this particular issue concerning the delay on buses used to be extremely frequent in the first semester,thought it has fallen down drastically this time except for the (senior) LB nagar bus which stands out for various reasons,not necessarily publishable online even for an outspoken blog like LAGH :P,still arrives late on the campus :)).
That apart not many,issues concerning the buses have been popping up,after making due allowances for traffic jams(For which you cant hold the management of GITAM University responsible :P),and obviously roads getting washed away(in the above pic) must be made,so surely there has been progress in the way the transport department has been functioning,but the problem gets interesting as we go further, and start looking at the other side of the coin ,i.e,the the better half of GITAM University Hyderabad the Hostels :P(Okay ,extremely Lame,get over it!)the day the buses decided to take a hit due to various reasons and mostly out of the hands of the management of GITAM University,Hyderabad coincided with the day the motor(or water pump),decided to boycott its functions!
HOSTEL:
When,we say hostel and problems,there is only one hostel we mean,and it is the boys hostel :)
There has been quite some problem with the water facility in the right wing(the corridor which hosts the room numbers:2-13) washrooms for the past couple of days,thought it didn't complicate matters as the management was working on getting things back to normal in the right wing washrooms.
But,last night things kind of went out of control and the water stopped flowing at about 11:00 p.m,in both the wings(the left wing ran out of water as soon as the right wing did),the incharges assured that things will get back to normal in a couple of hrs,but we secretly knew it would take them all night to work it out.
The department which takes care of the hostel plumbing,electrical works,were up till about 1:00 last night working to get the motor(water pump) started,but it went in vain,as the circuits kept tripping,and the attempt to pump water up the tanks in block A of the boys hostel was futile.
MORNING:
Early in the morning(about 7:00),the news broke out that the water in the left wing was exhausted,and the motor was burnt down,implies even thought the borwell had enough water to support an herd of elephants it was of no immediate use as the motor plays a pivotal role in pumping up the water into the over head tanks on block A.
Slowly,those guys stuck inside the loos started to feel the pinch and the other stinky(and sleepy) heads,went on a rampage using up all the drinking water in the boys hostel for various non-productive activities(bathing!),inspite of various seniors(rather couple of them) warning them of the consequences of bathing with Drinking water and also making it crystal clear that,if the drinking waters runs out it would make the matters in the hostel even more worst(and,yes the juniors didn’t pay heed to the seniors,and they were the ones who suffered as there was no drinking water,except for the fact that a senior preserved a couple of water cans,which came in pretty handy!).
At about,7:45 odd,there was an announcement made that the block B had water in its over head tanks,and could be used to satisfisy the needs of some if not all the students,but then the mad rush for water started,and even before the announcement reached the second floor of the hostel,the water in the B block ran out of water!(that was in 15 mins FLAT!!)
Bore Well:
Then,the incharges decided to open up the the borewell pipe in order to supply water.
The basic activity of brushing,started right there and slowly people started to make a beeline to carry buckets of water to the b block and have there bath and finish other activities there.
Seniors:
The seniors,decided to brush in the campus,and some took the bold step of having their bath on campus in order to make a mark,and highlight the problem :P(Did it work ? I don’t think so!!)
And the best worst part is that they had their quizzes going on!!
Verma sir arrives:
As things were settling down,Verma sir(Resident Director of GITAM University Hyderabad) came onto the scene and the students pounded onto him with loads of queries and making all kind of remarks on the way things were being handled.
But the fact is that,he can’t do a thing,if the motor was burnt then no one can be held responsible for it except the Electricity dept. :P
Then came the best part,Verma sir decided to compensate the hostellers(juniors to be specific),by cancelling the first class and in the meantime.(Close to 90% of the sections didn’t function in the first period,but a couple of them which had labs did.)
Afternoon:
Even thought the hostellers got a grace period of an hr,most of then were reluctant to turn up for the classes in the morning session,and it was only later in the afternoon that the hostellers turned up for the classes.
Day-Scholars:
And yes,there were these dumb set of day-scholars(set of day-scholars)who kept on asking various guys if they were hostellers and giving a weird look,this line is specially for you(those who looked down on the hostellers for not having their bath:I tell you most of them did ):
“You suck big time!!We use deos if we don't bath,and get yourself a life!!!”
Can people fall any more low ?
I bet not!
Okay,done with the out burst lets get back to the story.
Evening:
No,water this time around either,and things were looking worst than it was in the morning,a the Block-B doesn't have any lighting in the washrooms.
As the night fell over the Boys hostel of GITAM University Hyderabad,things were looking a lots better.
A Rs.(We are still working on getting the new Rs symbol for the blog:it is pretty tricky actually :)) 30,000 across the table investment later,and loads of man hours spent on getting the new motor ready for operation.
The hostels were ready to use the water facility.
MESS:
At about 7:30 odd the mess saw the first drop of water,and the water was simultaneously being pumped into the over head tanks to both block A and Block B.
After,having a good dinner,when the students went back to the hostel,they got another shock,even thought they were assured of water supply,since the motor was doing a tidy job.
The dinner was apparently splendid after a tough day,but the disaster was waiting to happen.
HOSTEL,again!!
Once,the dinner was done,and the students were heading back to the hostel,the news broke out that there was no water(again!!),neither in the left wing nor the right wing.
All it took to wake up the management(incharges) again,was a knock on the head by a senior,and 15 mins later the water finally started flowing in the left wing,but here came the real trouble.
MESSED UP!!
I have a very disgusting feeling about writing the following lines,but the truth be told,sensitive readers don’t continue reading.
Since earlier in the day there was no water,most of the loos were left semi-used(I can’t use any more words here ,plz!),and after close to 5-6 hrs of not being flushed,you can obviously imagine the stink from the washrooms,so,it was pointless even if the water was flowing,since the pots in the washrooms were totally useless,and were stinking like HELL!!
CLEANING:
After, about 20-30 mins,the cleaning activity commenced,and some of the pots were usable,and the cleaning process was still going on.
By,tomorrow morning,things will be looking brighter and lots better,what with the cleaning of all the bathrooms in both the wings coming to an end.
hoping for the best tomorrow,and heaving a sigh of relief since,the troublesome day has come to an end :)
Ganesh Chaturthi:
The preparations for the Ganesh Chaturthi were kicked started today,but We were really disappointed,since the situation in the hostel with respect to the water was really bad,and a meeting to talk about the Ganesh Chaturthi,could have been put on hold for at least a day or two.
This,attitude will definitely not boil down well with most of the juniors,but then lets keep this aside and hit the beds now!
Regards,
p.s.Pictures will shortly follow,We are still finding a way out with publishing the pictures via the mobile internet :)
Two motors should be there and they have to be used alternatively for longer life and if one fails other will be helpful during the time of emergency, generator can be kept for emergency purposes, when electic supply is not there for longer durations, generally such provisions are needed in big buildings and where many inmates are dwelling.
ReplyDeleteOr else, the same story may repeat in future also.
Hat's off to an elaborate painful incidents. One has to appreciate the pain one has undergone to pen all the details.
ReplyDeleteLet us pray such incidents do not occur again if proper preventive steps are taken, for which an insight is needed, which is a must in manning such builings / institutions / students.