Bhubaneswar, June 15: Work on the Arugul campus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar (IIT-BBS) is moving at a snail’s pace. The IIT-BBS is the first one of the eight upcoming IITs in the country to get its master plan ready.
Moreover, illegal mining of laterite soil at around 30 places in the area near Jatni, earmarked for administrative and residential buildings of the IIT, has become a cause of concern for the authorities.
“We have planned to engage 50 to 60 security guards under a retired army officer to ensure proper security in the area. We will also try to complete the boundary wall soon. We hope the state government takes some extra security measures,” said deputy director of the institute, Prof Ganapati Panda.
With the campus at Arugul yet to come up, classes for the IIT-BBS students are being held at nine different locations across the city.
Stating that the district officials had also seized some earth-cutting equipment and arrested some people engaged in illegal laterite quarrying, Panda said the institute had urged the home secretary and district magistrate to act strictly against the culprits.
One of the engineers, working on the campus project, said most of the illegal excavation activities were taking place near the slope of the Barunei hills. Some of the pits were 40 to 50 feet deep, which could create structural problems once construction work began, he said.
The foundation plaque of the institute, which was positioned at the Arugul village-end entrance of the campus, is missing. There is a white washed wall at the place.
However, construction of a flyover for a connecting road is going on at the site. This will be the vital link between different parts of the 936-acre campus stretching from the foothills of Barunei to Jatni village. The proposed Khurda-Balangir railway line bisects the proposed campus. A culvert is under construction by the railways, which would be the second major link between the two-part campus.
The earlier deadline for completing the campus was 2013. However, now it seems it would have to be extended by a few more years. “I can’t understand the authorities’ attitude. There is lot to be done, including clearing of forests and conducting soil and rock tests. Moreover, the 3D model for the project is not yet ready,” said a consultant working on the campus.
The campus, according to him, would have more than 20km long compound wall, of which less than 8km is complete. After the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation completed the work up to 6km, it was taken over by the central public works department (CPWD).
On the other hand, senior IIT-BBS officials said the first phase of the work would be over by three years. However, within the city, a 200-bed hostel was inaugurated for students on April 23. Similarly, a 22,000sqft workshop and laboratory complex is also done near the IIT Kharagpur extension centre.
Director of the institute Prof Madhusudan Chakraborty said: “Work on water supply, power supply and approach roads by the state government is in progress and the institute has already been given advance possession of 517 acres.”
The government had also allocated an additional 50 acres on the Puri-Konark Marine Drive for the marine campus of IIT-BBS, he said.
However, it is still a long way to go before the campus comes up.
