Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India

Dr

Sabu Thomas

Vice-Chancellor

Kottayam

Kerala

9447223452

9447914132

Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India

Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India

Kottayam

www.mgu.ac.in

Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala envisions to excel in the field of higher education and cater to the scholastic and developmental needs of the individual, through continuous creation of critical knowledge base for the society’s sustained and inclusive growth. For achieving the SDGs, the following actions were taken by the University to make it campus as ‘Green and Carbon Neutral Campus’. The collective effort of University leadership, students, faculty members, staff and all other stakeholders were helped to achieve the following;
Eco-friendly campus
• To protect biodiversity, one part of the campus (12 hectares-28 acres) is kept as an
untouched exclusive zone named ‘Jeevaka live laboratory’ and School of Environmental Sciences periodically monitors its biodiversity and protection.
• The University could identify 257 species of angiosperms, 28 species of Pteridophytes, 27genera of Phytoplankton and 16 species of plants endemic to Western Ghats in the campus.
• Also 86 species of butterflies, 23 species of dragonflies, 5 species of damselflies, 50 species of birds, 8 species of reptiles and 6 species of mammals were identified in the campus.
• Natural vegetation of the remaining campus is also conserved by creating a tree cover comprising of diverse indigenous flora.
• Cutting of trees is restricted in the campus. Under unavoidable circumstances, tree cutting will be permitted only with the approval of CACTS (Campus Advisory Committee on Tree Saving) by planting equal number of tree saplings.
• An eco-friendly battery operated vehicle is in in-house operation.
• Organic farming practices are promoted by a dedicated Inter University Centre for Organic Farming and Sustainable Agriculture.
• All the days of Environmental observance are celebrated.
• Two butterfly garden is well maintained in the campus.
• University has taken measures to replace all incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient LED bulbs.


Water Conservation
• Diverted the rooftop rain water from all buildings (14 nos) to ‘Ravindra Sarovar’ – an abandoned quarry turned water storing pond in the campus to store 42.5 million litres of pure water which is sufficient for a year.
• Another abandoned quarry - turned water harvesting unit with 4 million litre capacity is used for further water storage.
• One check dam (4.8 million litre capacity), 18 dug-wells and several ponds in the campus for ground water recharging.
• All the dug wells in the campus were de-silted and maintained well so that the water storage capacity of these wells increase and helps in ground water re-charge. Where ever possible the wells are recharged with roof top rain water from nearby buildings in order to replenish the ground water.
• Protection and conservation of all water shed areas in the campus (Nalpathimala , Jeevaka-check dam and the Swashakosam) to boost ground water recharging.
• Extreme care has been taken to reduce the wastage of water in the campus.
• One Roof top rainwater harvesting structure (69000 L) was established in science
• department building for laboratory use and this water is recirculated after water distillation to save enormous quantity coolant. The same water is further reused continuously after distillation. The University has decided to extend this unique innovation to other locations.
Solar Energy
• Installed roof top solar powered generators for 400 KWP in the campus with an investment of Rs. 350 Lakhs (35 million INR) under a special programme named RUSA Phase I programme. This has helped to produce 1600-2100 units of solar power daily in the campus .
• Solar power produced is connected to the Kerala State Electricity Board grid and it has helped the University to contribute to the society.
• These systems will be eventually extended to all buildings of the University.
• Periodic energy auditing is carried out and the recommendations are followed to avoid wastage of energy.

Waste management
• Biogas is produced from 2 biogas plants which helps to manage biodegradable waste and act as a substitute to LPG.
• Composting / vermicomposting yards established at appropriate places helps to produce bio-manure and is used for horticulture purposes in the campus.
• The segregated waste including plastic is taken to a dedicated material collection facility where it is stored as different categories and send to processing/ recycling.
• All recyclable waste material including plastic, glass bottles, lab glassware, paper waste etc are given to scrap recycling dealers who takes it to recycling.
• One Incinerator for the combustion of waste other than plastic.
• Awareness programmes were conducting for all stakeholders of University to make the University a waste-free model campus.
• A dedicated Certificate programme in Waste Management is offered through the Directorate for Applied Short Term Programmes.
General Policies to improve the campus environment
• Gives support to research and higher education in environmental studies. Including
environmental education to all academic programmes of the University which helped students to develop environmental awareness and understanding.
• Green building construction practices are followed and this helped maximum use of natural light and wind flow in our tropical conditions.
• All building expansions are made vertical thus avoiding cutting of trees and destruction of greenery of the campus.
• Pre- monsoon cleaning activities were organised by the National Service Scheme in collaboration with the neighbouring colleges as a community initiative.

Efforts for Carbon Neutrality:
• The University has initiated steps to implement e-governance in full scale to promote carbon neutrality in its campuses. The university has made the entire admission process paperless by introducing the facility of online submission of application forms.
• Use of rexine and other polymeric materials for advertisements are restricted in the campus.
• Continuous planting of indigenous tree saplings as part of greening the campus initiative is used to promote carbon neutrality.
• Energy Conservation : University has taken measures to replace all incandescent light bulbs in the campus with energy efficient CFL/ LEDs in a phased manner. • Provision of master switch to enable to switch off all fans/ lights, at the end of work. • Efforts have been made to enhance natural light and ventilation in new constructions enabling lesser consumption of electrical energy during the daytime.
• Waste Management • An efficient solid waste management system in the form of vermin-composting with the funding of KSCSTE and co-operation of local bodies was undertaken by School of Bio Sciences. • The School of Environmental Sciences has installed a biogas plant of 0.75m3 capacity in its campus by using the fund raised by the school through one of its projects funded by Department of Environment and Climate Change (DoECC), Government of Kerala. • The wash from chemical waste is contained and stored in the sewage tanks which have concrete walls of 20cm thickness and is managed through private partnership ( through a chemical management company). To reduce the environmental impact of laboratory wastes, reuse or redistribution of the unwanted surplus materials and treatment and recycling are adopted. e-waste Management • The University has entered into a tie-up with Clean Kerala Company for the removal of e-waste from the campus through buy-back schemes Green Campus.