No injuries reported, but students lose belongings as fire triggers concerns over overcrowding and unsafe hostel conditions
A fire broke out in a temporary girls’ hostel at a government medical college in Rajanna Sircilla on Wednesday, raising serious concerns over fire safety, overcrowding, and infrastructure standards in newly established medical colleges across the state.
Although no injuries were reported in the incident, clothes and personal belongings of two students were completely destroyed in the blaze. The incident has prompted junior doctors’ associations to demand immediate fire safety audits in all temporary hostel facilities operating in government medical colleges.
Junior doctors demand urgent fire safety checks
Following the incident, the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA) and the Healthcare Reform Doctors Association (HRDA) criticised the existing hostel infrastructure and called for safer accommodation arrangements until permanent hostel buildings are completed.
The associations alleged that the college administration attempted to blame students for the fire, claiming it was caused by a lamp. However, they stated that preliminary indications suggested a short circuit near an electrical socket may have triggered the incident.
T-JUDA President Dr G Vikram and Secretary Dr N Chandrakant Reddy further alleged that students were being pressured to support the official version of events and warned of possible disciplinary action if they failed to comply.
Allegations of overcrowding in temporary hostel buildings
The associations also highlighted severe overcrowding in the rented hostel buildings being used temporarily for student accommodation.
According to the doctors’ bodies, around 10 to 15 students are currently residing in a single room. Due to shortage of space, some first-year students are reportedly being accommodated in the mess hall after temporary partitions were created.
They claimed that nearly 200 students from three batches are presently staying in temporary hostels, leaving no available accommodation for the incoming batch of students.
College administration responds to incident
Speaking on the incident, College Principal Rajeshwari said the college staff acted immediately after smoke was noticed coming from one of the hostel rooms.
She stated that the two students occupying the room had locked it before attending classes.
“As soon as we learned that smoke was emitting from a hostel room, we immediately alerted the college staff, who rushed to the spot and broke the lock of the room to put out the fire. Meanwhile, the fire station was alerted, and an engine reached in time to assist,” she said.
Permanent hostel construction progressing slowly
The Principal further admitted that the medical college currently lacks a permanent hostel building and students are being accommodated in whatever rooms are available.
She said the government-allotted hostel construction project was progressing at a very slow pace despite repeated requests to the contractor to expedite the work.
The incident has once again brought attention to infrastructure gaps and safety concerns in newly established government medical colleges in Telangana, especially those operating with temporary hostel arrangements.
