National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi (NIT-T) has been ranked third among Centrally-funded institutions in the Swachh Campus Ranking 2018. It is the sole NIT among 31 in the country to win the honour.
NIT-T Director Mini Shaji Thomas received the Swatchata Pakhwada award from the Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar and Minister for State Satyapal Singh at New Delhi at a ceremony on Monday.
The NIT-T Director was accompanied by Samson Mathew, Dean - Students Welfare and Shivam Sharma, president of the Student Union.
The award was a result of fulfilment of three key objectives: cleaning the vast campus and clearing the departments of old files and damaged equipment; instilling cleanliness and hygiene in the minds of faculty, staff and students; and cleaning the surrounding villages and spreading the message of cleanliness and hygiene, Prof. Mini Shaji Thomas said.
Out of the campus area of 777 acres, 70 acres account for built-up land. The green belt covers more than 240 acres - about 30% of the total area. The institute maintains 24,500 square metres of lawn, and uses recycled water from sewage treatment plants to maintain the green area using sprinklers and drip system. Treated sewage water from two treatment plants is used for gardening through a separate pipeline. The Nature Club of the NITT has recently documented 120 species of birds in the campus, she said.
Bio-degradable waste generated in the the various hostels and living quarters for faculties are processed, treated and disposed of through composting. The manure generated is used for gardening. Food wastes collected from the messes are fed into the biogas plant, and the fuel is used in the mess kitchens.
Also, the campus has two solar plants with a capacity of 100 kW each and one plant with a capacity of 10kW, altogether generating around 2.8 lakh units every year thereby reducing carbon-dioxide emissions by about 224 tons annually. The street lights are fitted with energy efficient LED lamps, the NIT-T Director said.
