IIT-M students adopt resolution to open Krishna Gate

After a series of demonstrations. including protest rally by the students inside the campus, the student’s representatives have also passed a resolution in this regard. “The Student Legislative Council (SLC) of IIT-Madras recommends the decision of closing Krishna Gate be reviewed and it be reopened,” the resolution said.

Condemning the way the gate was closed, where neither the students nor their representatives were consulted beforehand, the students’ union demanded that their representatives be consulted and taken into confidence before any such decision was implemented.

The council has urged the administration to furnish more information like the minutes of relevant meetings, reports and complaints with regard to the closure of the Krishna Gate, the students’ representation said.

In its explanation to the students, the management said that the Krishna Gate was shut due to the dead-end nature of the exterior road leading to the campus, which possess a security problem.

“Increased security concerns due to the upcoming conversion of ‘Bhadra’ into a girls’ hostel near the gate is one of the impetus behind the gate’s closure,” the management said, adding that shifting of women’s hostel was not feasible due to capacity and location constraints.

The management also pointed out that the institutes’s security was not equipped to handle the security threats with respect to the Krishna Gate and increased bus services early in the morning and late at night to the Velachery Gate would be operated at appropriate frequency and schedule.

“Since partial closure is not feasible, it is necessary to make it permanent,” the management said.