First ever energy audit to power IIT savings

Kolkata, April 21

At a time when Bengal is reeling under a power crisis, IIT-Kharagpur has come up with a full-fledged energy audit. The report, the first of its kind for any IIT, throws light on ways to save power. The suggestions will soon be implemented on the campus.

Forty students of IIT-Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp) started the project at the initiative of AIESEC, the world’s largest student-run organization, and Ecozen Solutions, a startup by IIT-Kgp students. “The audit lasted for four months, from January to April, and is the first independent student-run non-credit energy audit initiative in India,” said Shubhanshu Mishra, a third-year mathematics and computing department student and a member of AIESEC. The students were helped in their endeavour by the electrical department faculty.

It was found that IIT-Kgp runs up an annual electricity bill of Rs 11.18 crore and the institute’s gross annual carbon footprint is equivalent to 25,000 tonnes of CO2. There were various aspects to the audit, ranging from electrical to heating, ventilation and air conditioning and fossil fuel consumption.

Several teams, under the technical supervision of senior Ecozen members, worked to assess the status quo by taking regular meter readings, accessing records and talking to on-site personnel. “It was seen that a lot of energy is being wasted in the institution’s kitchens. Energy is wasted when students do not switch off lights, fans or computers. Lights are left on even in the academic building. As responsible global citizens, we should want to change all this,” Mishra said.

The report suggests several infrastructure and behavioural changes to improve the situation. Technical changes were proposed, as were publicity and awareness drives. A competition among halls of residence, assigning consumption targets to departments and launching an aggressive green campaign were suggested. Changes in lighting systems across the institute were examined and the possibility of saving considerable electricity was discovered. Renovation of outdated cooling systems in the old building and building a biogas plant to utilise kitchen waste and save LPG were also suggested.

“The report took a complete view of the energy balance on the campus and identified areas of wastage and outlined proposals for implementation of corrective measures. Possibility of savings by implementation of these plans are twofold: Reduction in CO₂ emission and cut-down in energy bills,” said Mishra. The plan to replace HPSV street lights by LED lights alone would lead to around 58 per cent savings in energy.

The authorities are happy with the report and will implement most of the suggestions soon. The dean of students, Souvik Bhattacharya, who helped the energy audit team said, “The students have done an excellent job. With 19 hostels and 7,500 students, completing the energy audit was a huge task. Apart from students of IIT-Kgp, two students from Mexico and Chile were also part of the audit team. Some of the suggestions are reasonably inexpensive and we would try to implement them by the beginning of the next semester.”

Power saving plan of IIT-KGP

• Replacement of HPSV street lights by LED lights
• Modernisation of corridor illumination by replacing tubes with CFLs
• Installing motion sensors in low utilisation areas
• Installing master switches in high utilisation areas
• Building biogas plants to treat food waste from kitchen and use it for cooking
• Installation of solar cooker for boiling water
• Renovation of illumination system of central library by reducing the number of lights, installing motion censors and repositioning lights in some places
• Installation of online energy meters for academic complex and hostels
• Web portal to monitor and display energy consumption in real time
• Aggressive GoGreen campaign via posters, presentations, competitions and workshops
• Assigning targets to departments and hostels to reduce energy consumption through inter- hall and inter-departmental contests
• Using spring-loaded doors instead of sliding doors to reduce extra cooling load on AC
• Installation of underground insulated pipes along with pumps to supply chilled water for air-conditioning

Humorous & Feisty Mamata holds court during rail budget

Kolkata, February 24

Kolkata: When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Pushed into a corner by opposition MPs who called her regional, a feisty Mamata Banerjee delivered telling counterpunches and humour to ensure that she was the last one standing at the end of her two-hour marathon Railway Budget speech.

If former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s budget speech are remembered because of its entertaining quality then Banerjee’s oratory tickled the funny bone of parliamentarians and general public glued in front of the television sets. Unlike Lalu, Didi was serious yet her speech will be remembered for the liberal use of improvised Hindi and English laced with bits and pieces of her mother tongue - Bengali. Dressed in a white and green sari and her trademark rubber slippers it was her funny pronunciations laced with her seriousness that many found amusing.

The Railway Minister, who has a strong Bengali accent, also apologised to the House for her pronunciation. “My pronunciation will go wrong if I go fast.... I apologise for my pronunciation,” she said. Banerjee, who was interrupted several times during her speech by members alleging that she was ignoring their constituency, was heard shouting back – “Aap shaant ho ke baitho to dega” (if you sit silently, I will give you), “chillao mat” (don’t shout), “jitna marzi chillao” (shout as much as you want) and “mera jaan kha gaya sab” (they have pestered me so much).

While Speaker Meira Kumar asked the MPs to sit down and let Banerjee finish her presentation, the minister did her bit by frequently interrupting her speech to tell MPs to let her complete the job. “I’m also a human,” a frustrated Banerjee said at one point. And then carried on gamely, not even stopping for a sip of water.

As names of various places of West Bengal came up during her budget speech, the opposition attacked her for being Pro-Bengal. Even as Speaker Kumar continued to pacify the MPs saying “Baith jaiye….baith jaiye” (sit down, sit down), Banerjee stopped reading her speech and said “Ke re” (Who is it?) and tried to spot the MPs creating uproar.

Then looking at Lalu, who had criticised her last year for giving a pro-Bengal railway budget, she deliver her clincher. “One of the Karma Bhumi Express trains will go from Darbhanga to Mumbai” and then chuckled “Laluji kahan hai? (Where is Laluji?)

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is not known to show her emotions much, was enjoying the way Banerjee held fort for nearly two hours. So when Banerjee reprimanded a MP, saying, “If you don’t listen, I will cut it,” (cancel your constituency’s name from the list)”, making Gandhi clap in glee. Banerjee also pleased Rahul Gandhi by announcing setting up of a bottling plant in Amethi, leading to some noises in the House.

The Opposition MPs once again started shouting when Banerjee begun announcing the expansion plan of Kolkata Metro.  The railway minister hit back by saying, “Karte raho…katre raho (Keep shouting).” Before moving on to the next announcement, Banerjee stopped and asked “Kyun chillata hai? (Why are you all shouting?)” Then resorted to colloquial Bengali, “Hath, arre dhat (Shoo! What the hell!).”

She was at her funny best while announcing the state of art skill development centre for railway workers in. Banerjee begun by saying that Beleghata would get one such centre and the house once again became restless. This time the minister tried to pacify the angry MPs and said, “Khaali Bolta Hain…..nahi hain,  pehele thik se suno (You all talk too much. Ok I have not given anything to other states. First you all listen properly there is something for everyone).” She then announced that another Centre would be coming up in Cuttack. “Cuttack kahan hai?....Jabalpur kahan hai? (Where is Cuttack? Where is Jabalpur)?” after announcing trains for these places. And just as the MPs had stopped their murmur, she quickly named Coochbehar and Jalipaiguri as two other places where the centre would come up.

And did we forget to mention that the common man crept up in her speech every now and then as she fondly called them “peepul,” her favorite deviation for the word ‘people’.

Peace prevails outside Basu’s ‘haven’

Mou Chakraborty

January 18, 2010

Kolkata: At 12.30pm on Sunday, Ravi Das set out on an unusual journey from his Halisahar home. The man hit by polio pulled out his hand-driven tri-cycle and kept on paddling until he reached Peace Haven, where Jyoti Basu’s mortal remains have been kept.

The 35-year-old lottery seller cycled all the way alone. “He was the greatest Marxist leader of Bengal. I joined the party 15 years ago inspired by one of his speeches at Brigade Parade ground. The tricycle that helped me to come here was given to me by Jyotibabu,” said Das.

“The moment I heard that he has passed away, I knew that I must see him for one last time at any cost. Immediately, I brought out my cycle and started paddling. Even though there are supporters like me but Jyoti Babu’s death would definitely cost the party dear in the next Assembly election,” Das added.

During the course of his journey, Das survived on peanuts and slept at Sealdah Station all night. But the journey went in vain as police stopped him at the gate of Peace Haven. With moist eyes Das said, “Food and sleep is not important. It is already evening and if I could paddle such long distance, I can wait for one more night to bid farewell to the leader who inspired me to fight in life despite my physical limitations. I will go to the Assembly tomorrow to pay my last respect.”

Not only Das, football Olympian Sailen Manna too turned up at Peace Haven to catch a glimpse of Basu but he too was turned away. “He was a gentleman and the kind of love and respect I got from him cannot be expressed. Whenever I needed a car he used it sent it from Indira Bhavan. The last time I went to meet him he called me in by my name. Today too if he would have been alive and knew I was here to see him he would have called me in,” said 86-year-old Manna with tears in his eyes.

Asit Chatterjee, an official of Mohun Bagan Club who accompanied Manna, said, “From the moment he came to know that Jyoti Basu’s mortal remains have been kept here, he was desperate to come. Now he will have to wait for another day.”

Even though no one was allowed to enter the gates of Peace Haven, 72-year-old Arun Deb, an NRI from Basu’s favorite holiday destination – London, was allowed in. Basu is kept in drawer number 2 in the freezer at Peace Haven while Deb was placed in the one just above him.

If the claim of local resident and CPI(M) supporter Sahil Islam is true, Basu has been kept in the same drawer where his protégé and CPI(M) leader Subhas Chakraborty had been kept after his death last year.

“He came from London with his wife and went to Shillong for a holiday but died on the way due to massive heart attack. They are sharing the same freezer. It is such a strange feeling to know that my father-in-law is sharing the same freezer with the veteran Marxist leader,” said Kaveri Das.

Though there were some emotional moments but the crowd outside Peace Haven comprised mostly locals and showed no sentiments. Only passers-by would stop to find out why the place had such media presence and then walk away.