Jumbangla Desk: Jahangirnagar University is the only residential university in Bangladesh. Although fully residential on paper, the university had lost its character. For decades, first-year students admitted to the university were accommodated in the common room and second-year students had to stay in the mini common room. However, under the further development project, the construction work of six halls with ten floors was completed in December 2022 at a cost of Tk 442 crore 93 lakh. Although the accommodation crisis has been resolved as the halls have opened, the students are dissatisfied with the facilities.

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The newly constructed halls are Begum Rokeya, Taraman Bibi, Fazilatunnecha, Shaheed Tajuddin, Sheikh Russell and Kazi Nazrul Islam halls. Of these, Fazilatunnecha and Sheikh Russell Halls were opened on January 30 last year. Tajuddin and Begum Rokeya Halls were opened in February this year. Kazi Nazrul Islam and Taraman Bibi Hall were opened last October 8.

Students complain that dining and canteen have not been opened in the new halls yet. As a result, they are forced to eat low quality food by paying more money from outside hotels. Apart from this, major defects in design and construction have been found in the halls. In light rain, water accumulates on the balcony of the hall. When the elevators stop suddenly, no one is available to help in time. Students are trapped in the elevator when the power goes out.

The new halls of the university can be seen, tiles and plaster are coming off the floors of the newly opened halls. A little rain would cause water to accumulate in the corridors of each new hall and on the floors between the two blocks. When it rains heavily, water accumulates on the balcony of the room.
The students are constantly facing various problems due to the elevator. There was never any electricity, the elevator stopped suddenly. Liftman is not available on time even though generators are available in the halls. The students cannot hear the call to prayer due to the ground floor mosque in the new halls.

In the washrooms of the hall, the water from the upper floor seeps down and creates an uncomfortable situation. Washroom sensor lights not working. Due to the lack of sufficient manpower in the halls, the toilets and corridors of the halls are often unclean. As a result, students are at health risk.

The beds, chairs and tables provided in the new halls are of very low quality. These huge budget furniture frames are already bending. Ceiling fans, lights, switches in many rooms are damaged.
Regarding this, Nusrat Jahan, a student of Begum Rokeya Hall, said that almost every day we face some kind of problem in the hall. Even a little rainwater gets waterlogged in the corridor in front of the room. As a result, the environment becomes dirty, dirty water falls from the ceiling of the washroom and creates uncomfortable conditions. On the other hand, if the elevator suddenly stops, you have to be stuck for a long time. Since there is no liftman after 8 pm, going up and down has to suffer.

Ferdous Al Hasan, a student of the newly constructed Shaheed Tajuddin Hall, said, 'We were hoping that the newly constructed halls would improve in facilities and beauty. But we have to suffer constantly. The halls are provided with low quality furniture. Most of the room switches, fans, lights are damaged. This is why construction project managers and contractors should be held accountable.
Engineer Nasir Uddin, director of the university's development and planning office, said that there are currently many problems due to the design errors of the architects responsible for the construction of the hall. We are trying to overcome the problems in view of the complaints received from the students.
Professor Mohammad Nazrul Islam, professor of mathematics department and president of the provost committee of the university, said, I am trying to identify the problems by going to the halls. We have not yet given clearance to the contractors for the construction of the hall. We will consider these issues while issuing clearance. We are extremely careful about elevators. However, due to the crisis of manpower, there is a problem. Looking for people to run dining hall.