Watch your step, it’s a Games mess in Campus

Saturday, 29 May, 2010


Traffic was thrown out of gear in Delhi University's north campus on Friday. With the Gamesrelated construction work on in full swing, students were seen struggling to make their way through broken footpaths in a dust-filled environment.

The worst affected intersections were near the major centers for distribution of admission forms such as the Arts faculty, Kirori Mal College and the Dean Students ' Welfare office — that saw a turnout of over 40,000 as per rough estimates. A protest held by members of National Students' Union of India against displacement of Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar's statue from the Delhi University Student Union office , which has been demolished for fresh construction, added to the chaos.

"With North Campus full of admission seekers, traffic in the area was affected. Private vehicles had clogged the space even as pedestrians were forced to walk on the roads as footpaths were broken or under renovation ," said Sagarpreet Hooda , DCP (north).

Hooda advised DU aspirants and their parents coming to the campus to buy forms to use public transport . Monica Sharma, a DU aspirant, complained about lack of signages at the work sites. "Near St Stephen's and Arts faculty, footpaths are only partially covered. There are high chances of someone falling into the open drain," she said.

Many admission-seekers from the Northeast states, Jharkhand and Bihar felt the construction and demolition work across the campus could have been better planned to allow smooth flow of traffic in the area.

"I expected the college and the campus to be more beautiful. But all I see here is demolished buildings, dug up roads and dust. Hopefully , the construction work will be over by the time our classes start this session," said Biswapriya Yonjon, a student from Manipur.

About 400 police personnel were deployed in North Campus to maintain law and order. These included women constables and plainclothesmen . Four companies were deployed.

"No untoward incident was reported on the first day of the admission season. Our officers were patrolling all along. I visited the area in the afternoon for inspection ," added Hooda.

Original news source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Delhi/Watch-your-step-its-a-Games-mess-/articleshow/5987373.cms