Jaundice shuts down BITS campus

Jaundice shuts down BITS campus
Preetu Nair, TNN 25 September 2009, 06:53am IST

PANAJI: The Goa campus of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, has been closed down till October 11 because of an outbreak of jaundice and students have been asked to vacate their hostels immediately. At 7 pm on Thursday, students were called to the institute’s auditorium and informed of the decision by professor in charge of students welfare B J C Babu.

The exact number of students affected is not known, but state health authorities put the figure at around 40, while college sources say it is 60. The BITS, Pilani, campus at Zuarinagar has about 14 hostels, which house around 2,400 students. “Students of two hostels AH-2 and AH-6 have been largely affected.” said sources. The institute’s public relation officer Dr R P Pradhan said holidays had been declared to prevent the spread of the disease. He put the number of affected at 30.

Health services director Dr Rajnanda Desai said, “We have met the BITS authorities and have advised them to check the water supply line for contamination. We also emphasized on the need to vaccinate the students for hepatitis.”

Sources said BITS authorities on Thursday contacted the railways and made arrangements for Tatkal tickets. “We have several students from Andhra Pradesh and there is just one train a week to that state. So, our college authorities requested the railways to reserve at least one compartment for BITS students,” said college sources.

25 September 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition