Sangareddy: IIT-H scholars construct building with bio-bricks

The scholars constructed a small building with bio-bricks on the premises of the IIT-H Campus, a first of its kind in the country

Sangareddy: With the objective of meeting the twin goals of addressing stubble burning issue and arrest the exploitation of natural resources in making bricks, research scholars at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) have developed bio-bricks with stubble.

The scholars constructed a small building with bio-bricks on the premises of the IIT-H Campus, a first of its kind in the country. The structure will be inaugurated on Thursday by the Director of IIT-H Prof BS Murthy.

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The bricks were developed by Priyabrata Rautray, a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of Design. He was guided by Prof Deepak John Matthew, head of the Department of Design at IIT-H.

While on the one hand natural resources and fertile soil were being used to make bricks to meet the needs of the construction industry in the country, on the other hand, stubble burning had become a major issue in the country. To address these twin issues, Priyabrata Rautray used agriculture waste such as paddy straw, wheatgrass, cotton plants, and sugarcane waste after the crushing to make the bricks. Traditional brick making also caused a lot of pollution, he said.

According to estimates, the agriculture sector produces 500 million tonnes of waste every year in India. While a good share of the waste is used as fodder for cattle, a gigantic 141 million tonnes of waste was burnt which causes pollution.

Electric vehicles to ferry people on campus

Sangareddy: To reduce pollution on campus, authorities of the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) have begun using three 14-seated electric vehicles for transport within the campus. The students, staff, faculty and visitors must use these three vehicles to travel anywhere on the campus, spread over 573 acres at Kandi in Sangareddy district.

The institute used to operate normal vehicles from the entrance to the academic block, hostels, and staff quarters. The use of personal vehicles by students was banned a few years ago when rash and negligent driving resulted in a couple of accidents. Since then, all the students were travelling in fuel run vehicles such as buses, cars and autos to travel on the campus. The fuel run vehicles were hired through a contractor. The three new vehicles were also hired through a contractor to be operated on the campus. The vehicles were manufactured at an electric vehicles company in Coimbatore.

With an aim to turn the campus into a green campus, the faculty, staff, students and research scholars plant saplings on the premises of the campus. The IIT-H management has aimed to convert 40 per cent of 576 acres with the green cover.

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