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as they have to travel long distances to attend classes regularly under the present circumstances.

“We went to the principal and repeatedly requested to reopen the halls, to no avail,” he added.

Echoing him, Titash Chakrabatty, another student, urged the authorities to allocate dormitory seats to students based on merit, distance, and economic hardship once the halls are reopened.

According to the college authorities, the halls were already suffering from severe mismanagement and political dominance. Then the chaos following the political changeover led to further disorder and widespread vandalism, forcing the halls to shut down.

Prof Anwarul Kadir, an educationalist and civil society member, called for renovation of the existing halls and construction of new ones to match the institution’s massive student population. “A college with 33,000 students cannot run with only 721 hostel seats,” he added.

Abdur Razzak, vice-principal of BL College, said they had inspected all the halls shortly after they were closed.

“Titumir Hall is no longer fit for living. Nazrul and Subodh Chandra halls require full renovation before they can be reopened. Negligence by contractors and supervising engineers caused some delays to the renovation work. We hope to resolve these issues soon,” he added.