DU white panel expresses concern over safety of quake-hit halls, students
City Desk :
Several residential halls of Dhaka University (DU) sustained damage and a number of students were injured in Friday’s earthquake, drawing sharp concern from the White Panel, a group of DU teachers aligned with Bangladesh nationalist ideology.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the panel’s Convener Professor Dr. Morshed Hasan Khan, Joint Convenors Prof Dr. Abdus Salam and Prof Dr. Abul Kalam Sarkar expressed grave worry over the incident.
The White Panel leaders said the damage exposed the vulnerability of the university’s residential infrastructure and revealed a worrying level of indifference toward student safety.
They urged the university authorities to take immediate steps to ensure proper medical care for the injured, emphasizing that all treatment expenses must be borne by Dhaka University (DU).
The statement noted that many DU halls are old and dilapidated, making them structurally unsuitable for withstanding earthquakes or similar natural disasters.
The teachers said that despite repeated warnings, the administration had failed to undertake effective measures to address these risks.
The panel demanded a clear and time-bound roadmap for demolishing old and hazardous residential halls and constructing new, modern, earthquake-resistant buildings in their place.
Until new halls are built, they called on the authorities to arrange safe, temporary accommodations– such as tin-shed or precast structures–within the campus for students currently residing in damaged or unsafe facilities.
The leaders recommended that DU should develop a comprehensive disaster-management plan and conduct regular drills to strengthen preparedness for future emergencies.
Ensuring student safety and secure housing is one of the administration’s foremost responsibilities; the White Panel said negligence in this regard is unacceptable.
The statement called for prompt, effective and transparent action from the university authorities to improve the university situation.