NSS-
“not for me but for the nation”, the motto of NSS IITR was
further deepened in the hearts of its members when they visited Auroville :
The City of Dawn, a place where the needs of the spirit and the care
for progress gets precedence over the satisfaction of desires, the
seeking for pleasure and materialistic enjoyments. With the key quest
to search for the answer of, “What is a sustainable society?” we
found one, that too very appropriate, in The City of Dawn.
We
learned that a sustainable society is one where everyone is able to
live in peace, a society that can progress without catastrophic
setbacks in the foreseeable future.
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| Orientation discussion with Architect Manu at ‘Sacred Groves’ Housing site |
We
spent our day in the lush green surroundings of Sadhana Forest,
learning about applied practices of ecological planning &
development, followed by orientation discussion with Architect Manu
at ‘Sacred Groves’ about ‘applied recycle principles’.
Also,
Learning from wide ranging of Aurovillian experts about various
sustainable ways which included: waste construction material
segregation for building purposes, use of discarded for shuttering
material, on field explanation about organic farming – food
production overview, its critical role in our lives and culture,
climatic pattern and different approaches to farming (at Solitude
Farm with Krishna), What is the purpose of Education and Spiritual
Role of India & Youth’ ( by Deepti at Nandanam KG), and ‘Root
Zone Waste Water Treatment Plant at Luminosity Housing’ , was an
awesome experience. With the goal to embrace life 'INSPIRATION’
workshop was also held to realise human unity.
 |
| Experiencing the ‘musical & magical sounds’ at Svaram |
Having
organic lunch at Solitude Farm and experiencing the ‘musical &
magical sounds’ at Svaram were some cherished memories to behold.
While
still In Auroville, where we, with fresh positive energies, our minds
flooding with ideas, self-motivation running high and Taking
inspiration from ecological collaborative planning process in
Auroville; came up with Integral Sustainability Platform in our
workshop. Its main objective is to make IITR efficient in:
Energy
(Efficiency and generation)
People
(Within IITR Family & surrounding population)
Built
Development (Green Architecture, Appropriate and supporting
infrastructure, productive landscape…)
Waste
Management (Solid & Liquid Waste Management)
 |
| INSPIRATION workshop session in progress |
We
also felt the need to have a meditation centre in campus for
inhibition-free intellect and trauma- free memory.
More
responsibility you have in life more is the need of meditation.it not
only relieves you of stress and strain, it enhances your abilities to
face challenges.
 |
| What lessons, ideas and practices from Auroville can be tried out at IITR Campus ‘Workshop in Progress’ |
We
thought of a few pilot projects which had implementation
possibilities and proposed that NSS IITR was capable to take up
Solid Waste management, Energy conservation through green energy,
Affordable housing using CEBs, Meditation Centre and affordable
toilets (Sulabh International)
We
conducted a survey regarding the Present Scenario of Waste bins at
IIT Roorkee, and found out that In total here at the IIT Roorkee
campus we have :
Near
about 100 bigger ones (cement-concrete+polymer), near about 20 small
with special stand on sides of campus roads, near about 10 to 15
dustbins in each hostel. Also, certain Proportion of Mess Waste is
thrown indiscriminately into sewers. The total garbage of the campus
is sent to Saliar village near Roorkee after which IIT Roorkee bears
no responsibility .
Further,
the waste collection project was initiated by a detailed survey by
our team regarding the number of dustbins available in each bhawan,
Institutional buildings, near the roadside, and the waste
approximation of the above places.
We
then put together a scheme of installment of three types of dustbins
for organic wastes (Kitchen Waste, Food Wastes), Inorganic waste (
Plastic, Metal, Glass) snd Paper wastes.
According
to the potential and requirement of the place these dustbins will be
installed.
After
installation of dustbin we will conduct one more survey regarding
waste generated in each category.
We
are planning to collaborate with Attero recycling Pvt. Ltd. And Waste
Warriors For recycling of plastics.
And
for recycling of papers we are trying to connect with Saharanpur
industries.
For
organic waste we have planned to develop Biogas plant.
 |
| On field explanation about organic farming |
Simultaneously,
we started with the project of using CEBs to make housing affordable.
After a thorough hands on demonstration of “Making of CSEB -
Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks” at Earth Institute, it was easy
to list down the pros and cons of using CSEBs.
The
advantages include that it is based on Locally Available Materials,
is a bio-degradable material, attempts to reduce deforestation and
promotes energy efficiency, has a Possibililty of Versatile Utility,
gives a job creation opportunity, reduces import, has a flexible
production scale and is socially accepted.
Some
of the disadvantages are that Proper soil identification is required
or unavailability of soil, Unawareness of the need to manage
resources, Ignorance of the basics for production & use, Not
suitable for wide spans and high buildings, Low technical
performances compared to concrete, Untrained teams producing bad
quality products, Over-stabilization through fear or ignorance.
Inspite
of these disadvantages, we decided to go ahead with CSEBs beacause of
the main advantage of cost effectiveness. CSEB are most the time
cheaper than fired bricks and concrete blocks. In Auroville, a 1
finished m3
of
CSEB masonry is cheaper than fired bricks: between 15 to 20% less
than country fired bricks (April 2009). The cost breakup of a 5 %
CSEB produced in Auroville with an AURAM press 3000 is as follow
(July 2012):
Labour
(soil sieving and block making): 45 %
Raw
materials (soil, sand, water): 27 %
Cement:
25
%
Equipment:
3 %
The
Auram press 3000 proposes 18 types of moulds for producing
about 70 different blocks.
The
installation cost is around 1.5 lacs including transportation.
SHGs
were our next point of focus. SHGs involve generating employment
through paper based products like paper bags and baskets. Clearly,
they could be implemented in the rural settings of Roorkee.
 |
| Use of discarded ‘Petrol/Diesel Hose Pipes' as shuttering material |
The
next step was clean and green energy, the the answer to that was
biogas plants.
Biogas
plants are designed to handle organic waste and decompose it
anaerobically to get useful resources including methane gas and
organic fertilizer. They promote the use of Renewable energy and
allow for proper management of Kitchen Waste and left over food in
our hostels. Further, they require no maintenance cost for nearly 20
years.
On
an average, the daily mess waste produced is 40-45 kgs which requires
8 hours in a 4 cum plant to produce 1.6 kgs of biogas. This biogas
plant costs approximately Rs. 70000, including the transportation,
installation and labour charges and taxes. On researching more
comprehensively, we found that after
1.5 years, we will be daily getting gas worth Rs.128 absolutely free
of cost.
How,
you ask?
Here
are the stats:
Value
of Organic fertilizer = Value of Waste if we sell it on tender
basis.
Gas Produced is an extra benefit to us. Here is its Analysis
Cost of 1 kg of commercial LPG in market = Rs 80
Daily Savings if we use 1.6 kg gas from biogas plant instead of LPG = Rs 128
Our Initial Investment = Rs. 70,000
Break Even Point = (70000/128) = 547 days =1.5 years
Gas Produced is an extra benefit to us. Here is its Analysis
Cost of 1 kg of commercial LPG in market = Rs 80
Daily Savings if we use 1.6 kg gas from biogas plant instead of LPG = Rs 128
Our Initial Investment = Rs. 70,000
Break Even Point = (70000/128) = 547 days =1.5 years
We
also looked into the matter of providing affordable toilets. We found
that villages
surveyed for the installation of toilets are undeveloped &
unprivileged. The financial status of people residing in rural areas
is not sound. Further, open Defecation is prevalent owing to
availability of vast area of barren land and nearby jungle. Such
inadequate access to sanitation, hygiene and clean water subjects the
people to diseases. Girls are often forced to miss school or drop out
of education due to lack of sanitation facilities in India. It is
estimated that 1 in every 10 deaths in India in villages is linked to
poor sanitation. Among the villages surveyed were Teliwala, Paniyala,
Khanjarpur and Bhangedi. We came across two types of prototypes- a
sub-structure with super-structure and simply a sub-structure.
The
next steps we are planning to take are income-wise
analysis of the people residing in different villages, individual
opinion from each household towards Choice of Design of Affordable
Toilets and soil sample testing and Capacity Calculation ( by Sulabh
International Volunteers).
 |
| Our Auroville Team |
In
the end just as Auroville, we have to give promise for people to
choose another way of life.
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