Berhampur: In order to inculcate a sense of urgency to protect the environment, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Berhampur has asked its students and faculty members to plant saplings in the campus.
Dr Ashok Kumar Ganguli, Director, IISER, Berhampur said this while addressing a meeting on ‘Van Mahotsav’, jointly organised by IISER and Odisha Environmental Society, Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
“About 1000 students, 50 faculty members and 130 non-teaching staff would plant at least one sapling this year inside the campus. Out of 200.43 acre of IISER campus, 70 acre are natural forest and we are planning plantation in 130 acre in phases,” he said.
“Last year, we planted about 5,000 saplings and this year, we are planning to plant 10,000 saplings. We have already launched this year’s plantation programme. During next 5 years, we will plant more than 50,000 trees inside the campus,” he added.
Stating that the institute’s aim was to provide natural flora and fauna in the campus, he said the focus would be on native species during plantation drive.
Prof SN Patra, president, Odisha Environmental Society, said the history of plantation drive in India can be traced to 1485. He announced that the Society would plant more than 10,000 saplings in IISER Berhampur campus this year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dedicated the permanent campus of IISER, Berhampur at Laudigaon in Ganjam district through video-conferencing in February.
The Ministry of Education had approved establishment of the institute in a transit/temporary campus on October 27, 2016. The institute was allotted 200.43 acre at Loudigam under Konisi tehsil by the state government on February 19, 2017. On December 24, 2018, PM Modi announced the establishment of its permanent campus.
The Centre had sanctioned Rs 1,582.78 crore, including Rs 1,229.32 crore of capital cost, for construction of the permanent campus, which began on September 5, 2019. The detailed project report was approved for the construction of 29 buildings with a sanctioned cost of Rs 773.76 crore for a student strength of 1,855 in its new campus.
IISER-Berhampur offers BS-MS dual degree, Integrated PhD and PhD as well as post-doctoral research training.