Telangana universities may consider online classes amid water crisis | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: The water crisis on campuses might force many universities and colleges in the state to cut short the academic year or go for online mode soon.The Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE), which is holding a review meeting with vice-chancellors of various state universities, said that they are looking at various measures to ensure that the situation does not go out of hand on campuses.“We want to take some proactive measures to ensure that students do not suffer because of the impending water crisis. So, we are looking at various options including the possibility of truncating the academic year. Virtual classes are also being looked into,” said V Balakista Reddy, chairman, TGCHE.He said that they have decided to take some measures as thousands of students will suffer if universities start facing a water crisis.In Telangana, thousands of students are studying at university campuses. At Osmania University, there are over 10, 000 residential students studying on the campus along with hundreds of faculty and supporting staff. Likewise, 8,000 to 10,000 students are studying in Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTUH) main and constituent colleges and Kakatiya University has about 6000 students, of which 2500 are on direct campus admissions.“We have started creating awareness on the water crisis. The campus is in the city and whatever the normal public faces, the campus is also going to face the same issues and we will diligently follow decisions taken by the state to deal with the impending crisis. Right now, we are not taking any stringent measures. But, in unavoidable situations we can always shift to online mode,” Kumar M, vice-chancellor, Osmania University (OU) told TOI.He said that OU also has problem of non-borders and also nearby bastis, who illegally use lot of resources, including water, of the campus.