Patna: As the sanitation workers’ strike continued for nearly a week, hostels across Boring Road and Boring Canal Road — home to hundreds of students preparing for competitive examinations — are grappling with mounting heaps of garbage within their premises. Hostel owners and residents said the stench from the accumulated waste has spread to the upper floors, making it difficult for students to remain inside even with doors and windows shut.The area, which houses a dense network of boys’ and girls’ hostels catering to the city’s expanding coaching industry, generates large volumes of waste every day, including leftover food, kitchen refuse, plastic packaging, dust and other dry waste. With door-to-door garbage collection suspended, waste has been piling up inside compounds and common areas.Many hostels have exhausted their designated storage spaces and are now struggling to manage the fresh waste generated daily. The absence of community bins and the reluctance to dump garbage on roadsides have further compounded the problem. Several hostel operators said they were forced to store waste within their premises despite growing concerns over hygiene and public health.A housekeeping staff member, Bebi Kumari, at one hostel said the situation was becoming unmanageable. “We are running out of space to keep the garbage within the compound. Heaps are already present, and fresh waste is being generated every day. There is hardly any room left to store it,” she said.Students said the prolonged accumulation of waste has led to an increase in mosquitoes and flies, raising fears of vector-borne diseases at a time when the city remains vulnerable to seasonal outbreaks. People reported that foul-smelling liquid seeping from garbage piles and stagnant sludge around waste storage areas have further worsened living conditions.Sonu Kumar, a boy residing in a hostel on Boring Road, said, “The sludge and garbage water around the waste piles are making the hostel inhospitable. The smell enters our rooms and mosquitoes have taken over the compound.”With no immediate resolution to the strike in sight, hostel operators and residents are hoping for an early restoration of waste collection services before the sanitation crisis deepens further.
