Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Threat of an elusive tiger has forced Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) to ask undergraduate students to vacate hostels by Tuesday evening.
The urgent notice, issued on Monday evening, however, has no mention of tiger. It says, “In view of the prevailing condition on MANIT campus and review of classes conducted…. all UG students are required to vacate the hostels by 6 pm on October 11, 2022.”
As per the revised academic calendar for UG students (except 1st year for which admissions are yet to take place), there will be mid-semester break from October 11 to 30, 2022.
Forest department teams have been unable to catch the tiger which has been prowling on the campus since October 3.
Speaking to Free Press, DFO Alok Pathak said that 10 camera traps were set up on the campus. However, none of them captured tiger movement on Monday. Though a cage has also been put up, but the feline is yet to take the bait. He further said that the tiger came near the cage on Saturday but didn’t enter it.
He added that no fresh pug marks were found on the MANIT premises and it was too early to claim that the tiger had moved out of MANIT premises.
Forest officials also tried to use drone cameras to trace the tiger but it came a cropper owing to dense forest cover on the campus. Sources said that the tiger had so far killed two cattle.
As per the MANIT notice, mid-term examination for UG students would be held between October 31 and November 11. For all MTech, MPlan, MBA, MSc and PhD students, the regular classes and research work will continue as per the academic calendar.
