Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A portion of the old building of Bhopal’s Hamidia College collapsed on Monday. Fortunately, no one was present in the damaged corridor when the incident took place.
According to Principal Anil Sewani, he had passed through the same corridor just 10 minutes before the collapse.
He said several letters had been sent earlier requesting repairs of the dilapidated structure, but no action was taken.
Notably, the building has been given the status of Prime Minister Excellence College.
Space crunch worsened
Hamidia College initially offered only Arts and Commerce courses but later started Science programs as well.
This increased the need for classrooms. With the collapse, the upper-floor classrooms near the damaged area can no longer be used. This has further worsened the space crunch for students.
Chairman of the college’s Public Participation Committee, Devendra Rawat, said that 7 years ago, the college’s C-Block had collapsed into the pond.
At that time, several promises were made for new construction, but the work never began. Despite repeated warnings to the civic body and authorities about the risks, no solid steps were taken.
The collapsed corridor was an important passage used daily by the principal, staff and Commerce students to reach their classes.
The nearby section still houses key facilities such as the Accounts Department, Computer Lab and Principal’s office on the ground floor. Whereas, five classrooms were located on the upper floor.
