, Dec. 13 -- Once known as the New Hostel of Cumilla Victoria Government College, the century-old residential facility near Tomchom Bridge now stands in ruins, its abandoned wings swallowed by thick vegetation, broken walls and the quiet encroachment of drug users and vagrants.

A major portion of the hostel has remained abandoned for more than a decade, leaving hundreds of students without accommodation.

Once home to nearly 450 students, the complex now houses barely 80 in its only surviving building, students said.

With almost 30,000 students enrolled in the 126-year-old institution, many arriving from distant districts say the reconstruction of the new hostel has become urgent to ease the college's chronic accommodation crisis.

Atta...