A newly built structure worth nearly Rs 9 crore stands ready inside the campus of the Industrial Training Institute in Faridabad, yet students continue to attend classes in a decades-old block where plaster peels off the ceiling and rainwater seeps through cracks in the roof. The situation has come into focus after a recent accident at a PG in Delhi reignited questions about why authorities and departments tend to act only once a tragedy has already occurred, rather than fixing hazards before they turn dangerous.
A Building Falling Apart
The old ITI building where students currently sit for classes is believed to be around 40 years old. Jagat Singh, who has worked as the institute's watchman since 2014, said the condition of the old structure deteriorates sharply once the monsoon arrives, with water dripping through the ceilings of several rooms and even flooding into the office at times, leaving both students and staff struggling to cope. According to him, the new building was actually completed roughly five to six months ago, but pending work, including electricity connections, has kept it from being opened for use. As a result, students are currently being seated only in those rooms of the old block that remain in relatively usable condition, while the rest of the structure is simply too risky to occupy.
Nine Crore Rupees Later, Still No Handover
Construction of the new ITI building was taken up by the Public Works Department back in 2019, with an initial budget of around Rs 7 crore earmarked for the project. Work came to a complete halt during the COVID-19 pandemic and could only resume once restrictions eased, and by then rising construction costs had pushed the overall budget higher than originally planned. Close to Rs 9 crore has been spent on the project so far, a sum large enough to have delivered a fully functional building years ago. Yet even after this level of spending, the completed structure has still not been formally handed over to the ITI administration, leaving it standing empty while students make do with the old, damaged block next door.
Inspection Exposes Multiple Lapses
Matters took a more serious turn on May 19, when Dr Sumit Saharawat, Additional Director of the Skill Development and Industrial Training Department, carried out an inspection of the new building. The inspection turned up a long list of shortcomings: work in the lift lobby, the workshop, the toilets, the staircases and even the courtyard was found not to match the design that had originally been approved. The most serious gap uncovered was in the water and sewer connections, without which the building cannot realistically be occupied, while the electrical work was also found to be incomplete. Taken together, the findings suggested that despite years of construction and crores of rupees in spending, several basic requirements had simply been left unfinished.
Monsoon Adds to Students' Woes
For the students still attending classes in the old building, the monsoon season has only made an already difficult situation worse. Some sections of the structure have already been shut down entirely because they had deteriorated to the point of being unsafe to use. With a new academic session about to begin and admissions already underway, the ITI administration is worried that any further delay in handing over the new building could make it even harder to run classes smoothly, potentially forcing more students into fewer usable rooms just as enrolment increases.
Officials Promise Connections Within a Week
Responding to the concerns, Prakash Lal, Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department, said a target of one week has been set for completing the water and sewer connections in the new building. He added that the other shortcomings flagged during the inspection are also being addressed, and that the building is expected to be handed over to the ITI administration soon once the outstanding work is finished.
Questions Remain as New Session Nears
Bhagat Singh, the institute's Principal-cum-Nodal Officer, said the admission process is currently in its final stage and the new academic session is set to begin shortly, which makes a prompt handover of the new building essential. Even so, the larger question hangs over the entire episode: if crores of rupees have already been spent to construct the building, why were the essential water, sewer and electricity connections, along with the rest of the pending work, not completed well before now. Until that gap is closed, it remains unclear exactly when students will finally be moved out of the crumbling old structure and into the new one, and whether that shift will happen on its own or only after an accident like the one seen in Delhi forces the issue.
