SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Nov 15: IIT Indian School of Mines (ISM) management has announced banning the entry of vehicles on the campus for two days every month to assess the level of pollution and emission of carbon dioxide.
Official sources said that on the recommendation of the environment technical department of the institution, IIT ISM Director Rajiv Shekhar has issued an order regarding a ban on entry of all types of fuel-oriented vehicles on the campus.
Suresh Pandian, assistant professor of the environment technical department of IIT ISM told the media that as per the order, the second and fourth Tuesday of every month has been selected to ban entry of vehicles on the campus. As per official sources, over 7000 students are enrolled in IIT and many of them including faculty members, research scholars, who live off-campus, reportedly come by their personal vehicle.
”Such ban would help in assessing how much the campus is affected by the movement of petrol, diesel cars and bikes. We will also monitor what is PM 10 and PM 2.5 level on the campus after ban on vehicle’s entry,” said Suresh Pandian.
IIT ISM is the first technical institution in Jharkhand to have banned the entry of vehicles on the campus though on a trial basis for assessing pollution levels. Dhanbad has been declared as one of the most polluted cities in the country due to coal dust emissions.
Official sources said that steps have been initiated to check global warming and reduce pollution level . “ If the two–day ban experiment gives a successful indication, the management will consider increasing it to four days in a month,” said the official.
