[Assam] Dilapidated infrastructure affects functioning of JEC (The Sentinel, 13.06.2008)

[Buljit Buragohain]

Dilapidated infrastructure affects functioning of JEC 
>From our Correspondent
JORHAT, June 12: The dilapidated infrastructure facilities at Jorhat Engineering College have added to the woes of upper Asom’s only institution of its kind. Despite the stipulation by All India Council of Technical Education requiring the improvement of the infrastructure, JEC has been lagging behind in this respect for the last several years. Things had come to such a pass that AICTE threatened to derecognize the institution for weak infrastructure in 2003. Since then JEC has been surviving on borrowed time, struggling to stick to AICTE norms one year at a time. 
Though the Public Works Department (Buildings) has been entrusted with the maintenance of the main building, quarters and hostels, lack of adequate funds has stalled renovation and repair works for years together, informed sources pointed out. Large cracks have developed in the walls of the main building and rainwater, too, seeps in through the ceilings of several classrooms. Tarpaulin sheets have been used to cover the roof of the main building since the last one year.
No repair works have been undertaken to refurbish the main building since 1984 which was celebrated as the silver jubilee year of JEC set up in 1960. 
The 100-odd quarters for teachers and employees are also going to ruins due to lack of repairs. The PWD has already certified a few of these accommodation facilities as being unfit for habitation, the sources said. The eight hostels for boys and the single one for girls are in poor shape, too. 
There are instances of the college authorities taking donations from the students themselves to repair the hostels. At one period of time, girl students were accommodated at the hostel attached to Prince of Wales Institute of Engineering and Technology at Gar Ali due to paucity of living space at the JEC hostel. However, the problem is likely to be resolved with the construction of a new hostel. 
The improvement of the narrow road leading to JEC, situated in the Garmur area, has assumed prime significance in the face of increased traffic on it. Though reconstruction works have been undertaken for the first time since 1984, the tardiness and sloppy nature of the activity will continue to inconvenience people using the road, the sources stressed. It may be mentioned here that the JEC Road leads to the local stations of All India Radio and Doordarshan. 
Another basic facility which is lacking in the institution is a foolproof and hygienic water supply system. Though a new supply system was built to replace the old one, a lot of technical flaws have rendered it nonfunctional. The old water supply system was built by the Public Health Engineering Department at the time of the establishment of JEC. 


 (The Sentinel,13.06.2008)


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