Pune University Hostel Infested With Bedbugs; Students Say It's ‘Worse Than Yerawada Jail’
Students residing in the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) hostel are up in arms over a bedbug infestation. They claim that pest control hasn't been carried out for the last two months and that they are neither able to study nor sleep due to the bedbugs in the hostels.
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Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Siddharth Jambhulkar, a second-year student of Political Science at SPPU, said, "The problem of bedbugs is across all the hostels. The boys' hostel has around 8-9 buildings, and the issue is prominent in buildings G1 and G2. The bedbugs have increased in the hostel because there's no pest control happening; every 15 days, they should be doing it, but it's not happening. Two months ago, they carried out the pest control, but now again the pests have increased. The other major issue is that unhygienic conditions in the hostel are also contributing to the increase in pests. We have instances of finding cockroaches and insects in food, and also a case of rabies was reported a few months back, where a student was bitten by a mouse."
Meanwhile, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has said that if concrete steps are not taken at the earliest, they will launch a massive agitation.
Shiva Barole, an ABVP activist, said, "The students in the hostel are suffering the same way as an inmate would in Yerawada jail. Despite the instructions to maintain hygiene from the SPPU management, the hostel administration fails to provide pest control from time to time. They are simply ignoring the students. The administration and officials have failed miserably."
He highlighted that while the administration is active in conducting various lectures and awareness programmes, it has turned a blind eye to the safety and health of the students.
"Exams are stressful enough. Adding to it sleepless nights due to bedbugs, it has become a nightmare for students," he added.
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