Students protest for making OU traffic-free

Hyderabad: Hundreds of students in the Osmania University on Thursday staged a protest demanding to make the OU a traffic-free campus.

Highlights:

• ABVP organise protest in Osmania University campus 
• Protesters demanded to make OU a traffic-free campus
• Alleges campus turning into a den for outsides and antisocial elements
• Campus has become a place for bike racing at night
• Number of accidents on the raise – students security compromised
• 100-year old Arts College Building facing the threat of vehicular pollution

Led by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) the students holding placards had taken out a rally in the campus giving slogans to press their demand.

The protestors alleged that the growing traffic passing through the campus has been causing several accidents. Besides, antisocial elements have been making the campus as their den to run illegal activities promoting drugs and alcohol consumption, spoiling the academic atmosphere in the campus. 

Also, borders are left with no security within the university campus. They demanded the university authorities to immediately erect gates at the NCC gate and OU Police Satiation, to prevent entry of vehicular traffic, to pass through the campus.

The protesters noted that frequent accidents have been taking place while the students were on their way back from college to their hostels, and from the library to the hostels at night.

ABVP Central Working Committee member M Raghavendra said that experts have been warning that the 100-year old Arts College Building is facing pollution threat due to the heavy vehicular traffic passing through the campus. However, the university authorities are not bothered about the same, they said. 

Further, the campus has become a hub for bike racing and it has become a nuisance for the students, as strangers picking up quarrels in an inebriated condition with them at night. Staging a protest in front of the administrative building they also demanded the authorities to construct a compound wall around the university.