JNTU-Hyderabad hostels are facing renewed scrutiny over hygiene and maintenance after videos circulated on Friday showed a rat inside a women’s hostel room and dogs and cats moving through hostel corridors. Students have also complained about unsafe water, defunct filters, poorly maintained washrooms and inadequate running water.
A video circulated by girl students showed a rat moving inside a cupboard in a room at the PG Women’s Hostel, according to Telangana Today. The footage has raised concerns among hostel residents about sanitation and the maintenance of accommodation provided to students at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad.
Two other videos reportedly recorded at the first-year Girls’ Hostel showed a dog and a cat moving through the corridors. In one video, a stray dog was seen entering a corridor near an overflowing dustbin while apparently searching for food. Another showed a cat near the same waste container.
The incidents point to failures in basic hostel upkeep, including waste management and the prevention of animal access to student residential areas. The report does not state whether the animals entered through damaged doors, open access points or other gaps in the buildings, and it does not provide details of any pest-control or animal-management measures currently in place.
Students had raised separate complaints with the college administration on Thursday about water supplied through hostel filters that had become defunct. They alleged that the water was dirty and unhygienic. The complaints also covered poorly maintained washrooms and bathrooms, including non-functional toilets and commodes and inadequate running water.
For hostel residents, the reported problems extend beyond cleanliness. Water quality, functioning toilets, waste storage and access control are routine services that determine whether institutional housing remains safe and usable. When these systems fail together, students are required to manage conditions that should ordinarily be addressed through regular facility inspections, cleaning contracts and maintenance responses.
The videos and complaints have brought the condition of the university’s hostels into public view, but the report does not include a response from JNTU-Hyderabad authorities, details of corrective action or a timeline for repairing the filters and washrooms. The next step will depend on the administration’s response to the students’ complaints and whether the reported sanitation, water and maintenance problems are addressed.
