3 students injured as ceiling of Mysuru college collapses

Mysuru: A portion of the ceiling collapsed leaving three students injured in a classroom in the century-old Maharaja's College in the city on Wednesday. The injured were identified as Vishal, Yashwanth and Salim, students of M.Sc in Criminology and Forensic Science. The mishap happened when the students were taking internal tests.

The injured students were rushed to the university hospital where they were given first aid.

According to reports, one of the students who sustained a head injury was shifted to a private hospital where the doctors sutured the wound. The student was advised to undergo a CT scan. The other two sustained minor injuries to their hands and legs. The incident came as a shock to students and several of them refused to attend classes or exams and blamed the college and University of Mysore authorities for not ensuring their safety.

Prof Shivappa, Registrar of the University of Mysore was confronted by the angry students when he rushed to the campus following the incident. The officials did not act when they had submitted a memorandum to the varsity predicting such an incident a year ago. Several students of the department of Criminology and Forensic Science said it was negligence on the part of the authorities and not an accident.

Reacting to the incident, Prof Shivappa said, "This is one of the oldest buildings of the varsity and we have had no complaints so far. We have been informed that the plastering done to the ceiling might have collapsed due to the impact of pressure during the felling of tree branches recently. We will get this inspected by the engineers and take suitable action. Alternative arrangements for the classes will be made".

The century-old college joins the list of many other heritage buildings such as Lansdowne and Devaraja market which are on the verge of collapse. Recently, a similar incident was reported at the Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) hostel in the city.