After facing several twists and turns, the work on the research laboratory complex of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) here at Yendada will finally start with green technology soon.
“It’s a prestigious project for us. In fact, we will make it a model for our research projects in the country. We will adopt green technology for construction of the buildings and associated facilities with several intelligent features required for a smart building,” Dona Paula-headquartered NIO’s acting director S. Prasanna Kumar told The Hindu .
He said they had overcome the teething problems faced in launching work. The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is the Project Management Consultant. “We will complete the project within 18 months,” Dr. Prasanna Kumar said.
NIO, one of the 38 research labs under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), opened its office in the city in 1976 recognising the importance of the Bay of Bengal and courses like oceanography and meteorology being offered by the Andhra University. However, since then it had been running three of its labs in rented premises in the city.
NIO bought land – 3.25 acres and0.7 acres – two separate bits at Yendada from the government long ago. The project was conceived in 2010 but due to objections over the location of the sites in the ‘no-development zone’ under the Coastal Regulation Zone area, it could not be grounded.
Following a lot of persuasion, it could get nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Now it is on verge of getting clearances from the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority and the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation.
“Right now we have cut the cost of the project to Rs.8 crore. We will spend it on buildings to house a world-class lab,” Dr. Prasanna Kumar said. Staff quarters and other facilities would follow.
A 250-metre underwater seawater pipeline would be laid for continuous study of temperatures, salinity, dissolved oxygen and nitrate. The building would have smart features like underwater drainage and cabling. It would facilitate studying various characteristics of the tidal waves, genesis of cyclones, rip current, biochemistry of the ecosystem and beach profiling.
