PESHAWAR, April 30: Heaps of dirt lying at the University of Peshawar have become a source of inconvenience for the students of various departments, a number of students told Dawn on Tuesday.

“We have been facing the bad smell emanating from the heaps of dirt lying everywhere at the campus but the authorities are least bothered about this situation,” said a student of the university’s chemistry department.

Several sweepers, he added, were on the payroll of the university but most of them were assigned duties at the residences of the teachers, which, he stressed, had eventually resulted in the messy situation at the campus.

Besides, the heaps of rubbish near the Government Girls High School, near Coffee Shop, Islamia College, is a source of embarrassment for the girl students. The students are greeted daily with a foul smell of the dirt lying at the school entrance.

The dumping site just in front of girls’ tribal hostel is yet another problem needing the attention of the varsity administration. The students say such a filthy and unhygienic environment is also causing diseases to them, which largely go unreported.

Another dumping site near the Khyber College of Dentistry (KCD) also creates trouble and nuisance for the students not only of the KCD but also of the Khyber Medical College. Even the passers-by and the patients coming to the KCD are also the worst sufferers. Ironically, there no move is in sight to improve this odious situation and the students and people continue to suffer for no fault of theirs.

The students staying at the hostel (1, 2 and 9) are also at the receiving end. They say they are faced with a messy situation due to the heaps of dirt lying behind their hostels. It disturbs their study as well as sleep.

“We light agarbattis throughout the nights because of severe odour coming from the heaps of dirts lying behind the hostel. We have lodged several complaints with the authorities but no action is forthcoming and we continue to suffer,” said a student who stays in Razi Hall hostel. He said the varsity administration was celebrating Jashan-i-Baharan but was not taking interest to remove dirt from the varsity premises.

All the roads at the varsity are in bad shape with nasty materials lying all over the place. The dusty roads which are not watered create a dusty atmosphere for the students. Every hostel has got its own junkyard where all the wastage are dumped.

The problem the students face is that the dirt lying at the dumping sites is not disposed of in time which paves the way for mosquitoes to breed. During rain, pools of stagnant water alongside the roads and hostels is another problem haunting the students of varsity.

The rainy water also creates problems for the students while going and coming from their respective departments.

Another grimy scenario has been created by heaps of dirt while going through the roads leading to Islamic Centre.

Many students told Dawn that the university administration was decorating administration block where the offices of vice-chancellor and other officers were located and were not bothered about students’ welfare.