Safety measures up at institutes housing hostels

A staff member of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), on Sunday succumbed to Covid-19 and became the fifth casualty on the campus

A staff member of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), on Sunday succumbed to Covid-19 and became the fifth casualty on the campus. Over the past two weeks, the institute campus in Powai has been recording 60 cases a week on average.

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On Monday, IIT Roorkee asked students to vacate hostels by Wednesday, given the rising cases on campus. “A supporting letter from the dean of students’ welfare is being provided to the students to facilitate their travel to their homes,” said the institute’s administration. On Sunday, IIT Delhi also advised students to return home amid a spike in Covid-19 cases as the city ran out of space in its quarantine centres. The Kharagpur campus too has put on hold its plan to bring students on campus as residential campuses across the country are turning into hotbeds for the spread of the virus.

Restriction of movement

IIT-B, which had started allowing students back on campus for research work, has now cancelled all approvals for incoming students.

“We had been allowing research scholars, who needed access to labs, to apply for entry to the campus. The applications were approved after considering the need to come to campus. However, given the severity of the situation now, we have cancelled all prior approvals,” said S Sudarshan, deputy director, IIT-B.

Restricting movement within campuses as well as out of the campus is the key, said institutes. The contact tracing team at IIT-B was quick to point out that most cases were arising among those coming to the campus from outside such as post-doctoral fellows living outside and staff members commuting from various parts of the city.

“We were able to identify that more cases were among those commuting from various places in the city. So, we asked all post-doctoral and staff members, who are day scholars, to work remotely,” said Sudarshan. There are around 3,000 students and 2,000 staff members residing on campus in IIT-B.

At the Institute of Chemical Technology in Matunga (ICT), around 300 Masters and PhD students are now on campus, apart from 60 families of faculty members. Currently, there are no active cases among students but there are a dozen cases among faculty members.

Students on campus aren’t allowed out of the campus and outsiders aren’t allowed in. However, what has worked better for the institute is rigorous testing, said RR Deshmukh, the institute’s registrar.

“We have been holding testing camps for our students over the last four-five months. We bring in doctors to the camp. Everybody on campus is tested. Rapid antigen tests are done and if there are symptoms and if the doctors decide, RT-PCR tests are also done,” said Deshmukh.

Institutes amp up their prep

was to install exhaust fans and do away with the use of air-conditioners across the campus. Canteens and mess facilities have been moved outdoors. ICT has housed all its students on campus in single rooms. Here, too, canteen timings are staggered to restrict the number of students coming together.

Although the number of cases has stabilised, all institutes have amped up their quarantine facilities. “Those in the quarantine facility are provided food from the canteens through no contact delivery. Staff members deputed for this work have been provided with personal protective equipment,” said Sudarshan.

Some students panic

Despite these measures in place, panic persists among students. “Over the last two weeks, cases have been on the rise. Resident students are worried and have stopped socialising on campus,” said a research scholar from IIT-B on the condition of anonymity.

“When compared to other IITs, Bombay is doing a decent job of containing the virus. So, we don’t feel an urgent need to leave the campus,” said another student.

Student representatives had written to the director of IIT-B, Subhasis Chaudhuri, requesting vaccination for students residing on campus. Chaudhuri, in turn, had written to the Ministry of Education (MoE). A note from the MoE to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare requesting vaccine for students of all central government institutes was struck down last month.