Nineteen rooms in the north block of the dormitory's main building were sealed off about two and a half years ago after the hall authorities spotted some cracks. To avoid possible accident, the authorities have raised walls to block entry points of each floor of the two-storey building.

"As the ground floor in the central part of this block has subsided, it affected the same area of the first and second floor," said a student who resides in a room beside the sealed area. "We are living at serious risk. The building may collapse any time," he feared.

The students said the rooms in the east block also developed cracks.

During a visit, this correspondent found that the ground floor of the north block has subsided at places and many potentially dangerous cracks are developing on the walls and pillars.

"The authorities renovated the west and east blocks of the building several times. But the north block has been left uncared for. We heard that the authorities will reconstruct this block," said a student who has been living in the hall for about six years.

Students are now passing their days in tension. "We are living here despite the risk of accident as we have no other option," said Tareq Ahmed, a student.

When asked, Provost Dr Mozammel Huq said: "The FH Hall is part of our heritage, so we have a plan to reconstruct the building without changing its original structure."

Experts at the Civil Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) have already submitted a model structure for the renovation of FH Hall which will cost about Tk 2 crore, the FH Hall provost added.

Dr Haque said it is uncertain when the reconstruction work will begin. He hoped the construction will start soon to avert any accident like the 1985 Jagannath Hall tragedy.

Sources said the DU authorities are planning to reconstruct only the subsided portion of the FH hall instead of reconstructing the whole north block.

"Architects and civil engineers from Buet will help in the reconstruction of north block. Other portions of the building will be repaired," said Md Ameer Hussain, chief engineer of DU.

Sources concerned said the DU authorities could not start the work due to lack of fund. The proposal for reconstruction of the building is awaiting approval of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) for about a year.

When asked, SMA Faiz, the vice chancellor of DU, said he is aware of the matter. "For a long time we have been waiting for the Ecnec approval for the work. The finance secretary has assured that the proposal would get approval soon."