The New Lecture Hall Complex (LHC), a sewage treatment plant (STP) and a chiller plant (HVAC) were inaugurated on the 13th of October, 2020 in an online event. The event witnessed the presence of the Union Minister for Education, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and Mr Sanjoy Dhotre, Minister of State for Education, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology as the guests of honor.

The Dean of Infrastructure, Prof Umesh Sharma, described upgrades in the infrastructure that would bring them on par with global standards.

New Lecture Hall Complex (LHC)

The new LHC has been benchmarked in terms of design and utilities it shall be providing. The main attraction of the complex is its sustainable design with the use of daylight and natural ventilation with the building orientation planned to complement it.

The construction of the LHC started in 2016 and cost about INR 80.25 cores. With a built-up area of 13,254 sq. m, the building has the capacity to accommodate up to 4480 individuals. The capacities of individual room classes are given below.

All classrooms are centrally air-conditioned and are equipped with state of the art amenities like audio and video conferencing, digital podium, laser projector, motorised projector screen and digital writing board.

Centralised Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning plant (HVAC)

This plant has been built to cater to the air conditioning requirements of three buildings - Lecture Hall Complexes-l and ll, and the Convocation Hall. It uses Chilled Water Cooling technology and the project cost is estimated at around INR 14.35 crores. (Source: The Pioneer)

The main highlight of this project is the ‘control through remote’ mode via the Building Management System. The system has been designed considering capacity optimization and energy efficiency.

Sewage Treatment Plant (STP)

With a capacity of 3 million litres a day the STP is located in Solani Kunj near the C-class Club in the IIT Roorkee campus. The plant has a built-up area of 1,800 sq. m, and its estimated construction cost is INR 27.73 crores. The STP is based on a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) for the treatment of wastewater. It is equipped with a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA ). It uses a fill-and-draw cyclical protocol including aeration and non-aeration sequencing. The system provides high-quality effluent for safe discharge or non portables reuse witty minimum space and power requirements. The unique feature of IIT Roorkee STP is the additional odour control and advanced tertiary treatment facility due to its settling in the residential area.

The Minister for Education expressed his immense pride in IIT Roorkee’s progress as an institute. He appealed to the Institute to produce viable methods to reduce human-animal conflicts that have become common in surrounding areas and the Himalayas and to contribute to scientific-social responsibility.

The Director, Prof Chaturvedi pointed towards ongoing infrastructure projects at IIT Roorkee - the HSS and Math buildings, a faculty housing project (expected to be completed within 9 months) and a new hostel for students. Additionally, a renovated Chemistry department, the Western Academic Block and another student hostel are currently in the design stage. The office of the Associate Dean of Infrastructure Projects has been created to speed up the progress of infrastructure development.

The Institute is continuing its trend of upgradation and development of campus infrastructure. We hope to make the best of these developments, once we return to the campus.

Image Credits: Sanjeevani Marcha