The under-construction electronic and communication building on the premises of Government Polytechnic College in Darbhanga. Picture by Mohan Mahato

Darbhanga, May 17: A college building that was supposed to come up within 15 months in 2007, is still awaiting completion.

The delay has affected the academic pursuit of more than 1,200 students at the Government Polytechnic College. The state department of science and technology had allotted Rs 3.09 crore for the construction of electronics and communication bhavan on the college premises. The foundation stone of the building was laid on August 16, 2007.

The work, being overseen by the building construction department, was given to a private Patna-based contractor. The stipulated time for completion was fixed at 15 months. However, 45 months on, students and faculty members of the college are still waiting for the building to get completed.

Repeated notices and warnings from the building construction department have not sped up the construction work. The contractor remains unresponsive as ever. Principal of the Government Polytechnic College, Chandrika Rawat, said: “Study is bound to get affected as there are only six rooms for around 1,200 students in the college. At least, 26 to 30 rooms are required to accommodate the number of students. This was estimated at a time when the college was running only three streams — electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering. The combined strength of students was 135.”

In 2000, two new streams — computer and electronics engineering — were introduced at the college. The combined strength of students in the five departments went up from 135 to 300. Rawat added: “For want of classrooms and laboratories, studies of students, who had taken admission at the college to shape their careers, were badly hit.”

The decision to build a new building was taken to meet the needs of the students. Now, the half-done building has become a source of frustration for the college authorities and students.

Executive engineer of the state building construction department Awadh Kishore told The Telegraph: “Several notices were served to the contractor to complete the work on time. When the contractor asked for some more time to complete the work, we also gave him an extension. But the work has lingered on for the past three years. The extended deadline for work completion is May 31 this year. If the deadline is not met this time, the contractor will be blacklisted.”

Wonder what is the present status of the college? Around 10 workers were found engaged in the construction work at the site. The construction is almost complete and finishing touches remain to be given. A source said the construction work is likely to be completed soon and the building would be handed over to the college at any cost in the first week of June this year.

While the pace of work has generated some hope among teachers and students of the college, they remain sceptical about being able to use the new building any time soon. The painfully stre- tched duration of construction has not only affected the studies but also dented their enthusiasm.