Utkal University has indefinitely postponed its postgraduate mid-semester examinations after several students in girls’ hostels 6 and 7 developed symptoms associated with a suspected waterborne disease outbreak, prompting medical testing and emergency drinking-water measures on campus.
According to a notification issued by the office of the chairperson of the university’s Postgraduate Council, fresh examination dates will be announced after the health situation stabilises. The notification did not specify a new schedule.
University authorities said a number of students fell ill with symptoms including diarrhoea and jaundice after returning from home following the puja vacation. Some students required hospitalisation, according to the report. The affected students are residing in girls’ hostels 6 and 7, although the available information does not establish the final source or extent of the illness.
Health department officials and medical teams have been deployed to monitor the situation and assist affected students. Blood samples from more than 30 students have been collected for laboratory testing. The results are expected to help determine whether the illnesses are linked to a common waterborne or other public-health cause.
The university has established a 24×7 control room, an on-campus pharmacy and a public health service centre as part of its immediate response. Authorities have also supplied more than 1,000 litres of purified drinking water to the hostels and advised students to drink boiled water and maintain food hygiene.
The response has involved the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, whose surveillance team collected water and blood samples for laboratory analysis. The sampling is part of an investigation into the cause of the illnesses, and no definitive source of contamination has been identified in the information available.
The episode has also disrupted the university’s academic calendar, with the postponement applying to postgraduate mid-semester examinations rather than being limited to hostel operations. Students and families are therefore awaiting both the health-test findings and the university’s decision on when examinations can resume.
University authorities said monitoring of affected students would continue while health officials and municipal teams investigate the suspected outbreak. A revised examination schedule will be issued after the health situation stabilises.
