The Dhaka University (DU) Proctorial Body has once again failed to remove illegal floating shops from the campus.
Despite multiple eviction efforts by the university authorities and law enforcement agencies, the campus has reverted to hotspot for makeshift vendors, with stalls popping up every other day.
Currently, some 100 illegal stalls occupy critical areas of the campus such as Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) adjacent to Suhrawardy Udyan, Central Sheheed Minar, Doel Chhattar and Gonotontro O Mukti Toran, obstructing pedestrian and traffic movement.
Suhrawardy Udyan adjacent to the campus is also overwhelmed with unauthorised shops.
The vendors predominantly sell junk foods, which attract a large number of outsiders.
The crowds often spill onto the streets, attracting rickshaw pullers waiting for passengers. These blockages contribute to traffic jam, further compounded by the nearby TSC Metro Station.
At least a dozen of road accidents occurred on the campus in last one year due to overcrowding and excessive presence of vehicles.
In addition to the chaos they cause, these shops-primarily selling unhealthy food-pose a direct threat to the physical and mental well-being of students.
The Proctorial Body, which includes the Proctor and several assistant proctors responsible for separate zones, failed to solve the recurring problem.
The Proctorial Mobile Team under the Proctorial Body tasked with security and enforcement failed to go for a lasting solution.
Each time they remove vendors from one spot, they reappear at another spot.
Members of the Proctorial Mobile Team, speaking on condition of anonymity, attribute the failure to manpower shortage.
The crisis raises serious questions about the university's commitment to maintaining safe and conducive environment for education, further eroding its reputation as the country's premier academic institution.
DU Proctor Associate Prof Saifuddin Ahmed told the Daily Observer that the authorities had been evicting the floating shops almost daily.
"We are removing the shops regularly. As soon as we remove the stalls from one spot, they relocate at another location," he said, adding that the university administration was trying to find a permanent solution to this problem.