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Vadodara: Gujarat government’s decision to allocate Rs 1.14 crore from Department of Climate Change has acted like a shot in the arm of M S University. The university is all set to adopt major green initiatives including adopting groundwater recharge systems, installing solar rooftops, increasing the green cover of the campus, segregating of garbage and making the campus plastic free.
University’s construction division and the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) have prepared a roadmap for this.
“Groundwater recharging will be done in majority of buildings across the campus. Almost 1.15 lakh square metres of rooftop area will be covered for ground water recharging across the campus. Rainwater collected on the rooftops will be used for ground water recharging,” said professor B S Chakrabarty, director of IQAC.
University’s own study suggests that going by the average normal rainfall of Vadodara – 960 mm – around 7.67 crore litres of water can be saved.
“Even if the rainfall is less than the average rainfall that the district registers during monsoon, we can save lot of water. For instance, if the total rainfall is 550 mm, we can collect more than 4 crore litres of water,” he said. While the university is planning to cover almost all faculty buildings and Halls of Residence, it will also pursue the project to recharge groundwater using water that accumulates on the surface.
“For this, contouring of the university will be done. Once, we know the gradient, we can put groundwater recharge structures at the lowest points where the water gets accumulated,” he said.
Students and teachers of Water Resources Engineering and Management Institute (WREMI), Samiala along with those from the Department of Civil Engineering of Faculty of Technology and Engineering have already started work for preparing technical reports in this front.
To increase its green cover, the university will planning to add 5,000 more trees in next three years’ time. The first phase to improve its green cover will start from Pratapsinhrao Parisar (earlier known as Donor’s Plaza ground) where 300 trees will be planted soon. The plantation drive will cover the Halls of Residence and other spots on the campus where there is scope of increasing the green cover.
On the solar front, the university already has installed and commissioned solar panels with total capacity of 725 KW. The university has now set the target to scaling up its total capacity to 1 MW within this year.
Presently, grid-connected solar rooftop panels have been installed at Faculty of Technology and Engineering, Hansa Mehta Library and university head office.
“We will be requesting Gujarat government to grant us special status so that rooftop solar project covering entire university campus can be funded and in turn university can become a major generator of solar power with the help of Gujarat Energy Development Agency,” he said.
IQAC and construction division recently also held a meeting with wardens of Halls of Residence for segregation of garbage and composting.
“Students of Department of Environment Science will propose the sites and the designs of the compost pits where the compost will be prepared which in turn will be utilised across the campus and also for plantation of trees,” he said, adding that a similar drive will also be carried out to make the campus plastic free. “We will be replacing ordinary lamps with energy efficient lamps. Also, we are seeking support from all the corporates, NGOs and other entities so that corporate social responsibility funds can be channelized for this green initiatives,” he said. |
