July 18, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 21, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, July 17: The Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) has approved a project submitted by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to develop temporary structures for faculty of sciences AJK university, Muzaffarabad, said an official statement.

The present project aims at providing laboratories to six departments of faculty of sciences, building six offices for 30 faculty members, one boys hostel for 180 students, one girls hostel for 180 students and one hostel for 40 faculty members.

The present project is part of the contingency plan to provide prefabricated, steel structure buildings as an alternative for regular classrooms and hostels.

Over 800 students will be facilitated in these laboratories and 360 will reside in hostels and 20 rooms will be available for 40 faculty members. Provision of temporary buildings will enable students to study in Muzaffarabad instead of migrating elsewhere to seek admission.

Faculty and other resources will be utilised to the optimum level and danger of conducting classes in damaged buildings will be eliminated.

The October 8 earthquake destroyed the entire infrastructure of the main campus in Muzaffarabad.

All teaching blocks and student facilities at the main campus have been rendered unsuitable for teaching and research activities. The destruction was so severe that libraries, laboratories, student-teacher centre, auditorium, administration block, mosque and residence facilities for students and faculty were completely destroyed.

Classes have been temporarily shifted to Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi; Allama Iqbal Open University, Bahria University and H-8 College, Islamabad, in order to save one academic year of 1,566 students of faculty of arts and sciences.

These arrangements are purely temporary and the university will be shifted to its original place as soon as possible.

The committee constituted by the HEC and AJK government has evaluated the losses caused to the quake-damaged buildings.

According to the damage assessment reports of different committees of expert engineers appointed by the HEC and two composite teams appointed by the AJK government, there was a need to construct a new building. Without prefabricated buildings, the university has no option to hold academic programmes.