‘Unbearable stench’: Students flag sanitation crisis at Mumbai's Nair Dental College hostel

Garbage piled up and clogged sink inside the college hostel highlight the unhygienic conditions students say they were forced to live with for over a week. Pics/Ritika Gondhalekar

Students residing at the Nair Hospital Dental College hostel have raised serious concerns over unhygienic living conditions, alleging that the situation has continued for over eight days without effective intervention.

"For more than a week, no staff came to clean our rooms, the premises, or collect garbage. The stench became unbearable. Despite repeatedly approaching the dean, it was only after a week, on Wednesday, February 4, that staff came and merely collected the garbage bags we had kept outside our rooms," said a student.

Another student added that the rooms are still unclean. "We are unaware of the exact reason why cleaning was not carried out for so many days." Calling the situation distressing, a student said that living amid filth in a medical institution is unacceptable and adversely affects physical health, mental well-being, and academic performance.

Responding to the allegations, hospital authorities said the issue arose due to a strike by contract-based cleaning staff. "For the past few days, contract cleaning staff have been on strike. When we asked hospital cleaning staff to clean the hostel, they were threatened by contract workers and prevented from doing so. As a result, we approached the BMC headquarters today and explained the situation. Senior officials have assured us they will visit the hostel and resolve the issue concerning the contract staff," said Dr Mala Dixit, dean, Nair Dental Medical College.