Students of Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET) staged a demonstration today demanding expansion of their campus.

More than 100 students formed the human chain in front of the university's entrance around 11:00am.

The decision to stage the demonstration was taken at a meeting of the DUET coordination team where the third and fourth year students also participated.

This correspondent spoke to three DUET students, Kamrul Islam, Raihan Mia, Soabul Islam, and Jamirul Islam, to understand their demands.

According to them, the university is a specialised university in Bangladesh where only students from the polytechnic colleges get the opportunity to study.

A second campus was established in order to properly manage the academic activities of the university, but students say the land area is insufficient compared to the needs, and there is no developed communication system between the first and second campus.

They also claimed that the first and second year students have been studying from outside due to the lack of adequate residential halls. Staying outside is expensive and also a threat to their safety. In addition, there are no adequate research clubs, offices of the existing clubs, and adequate playgrounds on the campus though those are very important for the students for their academic as well as co-curricular activities. In view of these demands, expansion of the DUET campus is necessary, the demonstrators said.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Professor Utpal Kumar of DUET said, "The demands are reasonable. The vice-chancellor is not here today. I'll discuss the issues. Later, we'll discuss with the deputy commissioner of Gazipur, and necessary steps will be taken."