At the onset of May, 2019 University of Kashmir was all
set to receive the NAAC peer team for its reaccreditation after a period of almost
eight years. Previous accreditation was undertaken in the year 2011. Few days
prior to the arrival of NAAC peer team administrative orders were issued
imposing restrictions on all sorts of vehicular traffic inside the campus
barring a few ones engaged with the NAAC visit. This was apparently to
facilitate uninterrupted movement of the Peer Team members within campus who
had to visit almost each and every department and research centre of the
University, within a short span of three days for the sake of their performance
assessment.
Once the orders were translated into action all of a sudden,
teachers, employees, scholars and students of the university could feel a fresh
lease of life in the campus. Abruptly irritating honking of horns turned
silent, zooming bikes disappeared, dust and noise got vanished and amidst all
this soothing silence, serenity, tranquility and pollution free ambience of the
campus that left an indelible impression upon one and all, people witnessed new
beauty of their campus which is flanked by the world-famous Dal Lake on one
side and towering Zabarwan mountain range on the other. Lush green Naseembagh
reincarnated in its glory and the whole campus presented altogether a new look
in its landscape. These three days provided an all new experience to the residents
as well as non-residents of the campus.
However once the NAAC visit got over, majority of
teachers, employees and students wanted to enjoy this newly found beauty and
serenity of the campus for all times to come. They offered their full support
to the administration in continuing with the restrictions even though no
alternative means of eco-friendly transport within campus were immediately
available nor other modalities required for regulation of parking slots and
management of exigencies were in place. This decision was supposed to be a
temporary and transitional one at the first place but all stakeholders pinned
their hopes upon the university administration to make it a long-lasting one in
their quest to see their campus getting gradually transformed into a
vehicle-free, plastic-free, carbon-free, eco-friendly, sustainable, green
campus in view of its sensitive and fragile ecology and surroundings. This was
just a very humble and modest beginning towards that lofty goal and nobody
wanted to lose it just like that.
Some of the teachers as well as other employees having
health-related and other genuine concerns faced many difficulties on this
account and therefore were not happy with this decision. In absence of adequate
alternative arrangements they demanded removal of restrictions and were well
within their rights to do so. However this demand posed a big challenge to the
administration in balancing the move in a manner that simultaneously addresses
the aspirations of pro-ban people as well as the grievances of anti-ban employees.
Though all the three associations of teachers, officers and non-teaching staff
offered full support to the administration in this endeavour, they recommended
issuance of vehicle entry passes on need-basis to the desirous employees of the
university till adequate alternative arrangements are made, subject to the
condition that they will park their vehicles only at the parking slots to be
designated for this purpose. This very provision was supposed to be revisited
and reviewed once all modalities for an effective and hassle-free
implementation of the provision are kept in place by the administration. This
relaxation however was necessitated by the fact that all visitors to the campus
have their inherent rights that cannot be violated or compromised for the sake
of others. Fundamental rights of proponents as well as opponents of the
restrictions need to be respected and safeguarded for a successful and long-lasting
implementation of this initiative.
Sustainable green campus
initiative is actually a long-term project that in addition to vehicle-free
campus includes many other components like paperless work culture; waste
segregation, disposal and management; installation and use of solar energy and
other renewable resources; water and electricity conservation; non-use of
plastics; organic floriculture practices; no use of coal bukharis and electric
heaters during winters and its replacement with central heating systems; no
burning of chinar leaves during winters; no use of diesel generators;
rain-water harvesting etc. University needs to have a comprehensive green
campus policy with crystal clear objectives, plans and provisions besides an
enforcement committee in place to work out all modalities for their effective
implementation. Services of some experienced environmental consultant could also
be availed, if required for this purpose or else the Dept. of Earth Sciences
could provide the lead in collaboration with the Dept. of Environmental
Sciences of our University.
If the University starts
working now on a vehicle-free, plastic free, carbon-free, green campus it is
not impossible to achieve that goal before the next NAAC inspection which is
scheduled after every five years. We can submit a prospective project to UGC or
other national/international environmental agencies for funding on the basis of
fragile ecology and lush green surroundings of our campus. Kashmir University
campus best qualifies to be among the first green campuses of the country and
there will be good number of agencies ready to fund this initiative. We could
be the role model for many other universities and institutions of the country wherein
our model could be emulated by them. We need not always look upon others to
copy their best practices. We can provide lead in this respect to others. There
are numerous such university campuses from which we can draw enough inspiration
for such an initiative like the Simon Fraser University of Canada, University
of Alcala, Spain, Universities of Oxford, Nottingham and Sussex, UK,
Universities of Connecticut, California, USA, Brown University, Colorado State
University, University of North Carolina, Stanford University, Georgetown
University, Cornell University, USA etc. Even within India Symbiosis Institute,
Lovely Professional University, Pondicherry University, Indian Institute of
Science, Punjab University and RNB University, Rajasthan have made considerable
progress in this direction so far.
Nowadays more and more
educational institutions across the world have started paying attention to the
importance of incorporating sustainability as a part of their organization,
culture and even their architecture, so that students, scholars and teachers
live sustainable actions as part of their daily practices. We have been
teaching and preaching environmental sustainability and ecological conservation
in our university since decades now. It is high time that we start practicing
those values ourselves. Some people argue that our university ecosystem is a
minute one having little bearing upon the larger ecosystem outside the
University. May be this is true but somewhere we need to set an example by our
actions that we care for our ecology and environment and are ready to sacrifice
our little comforts and convenience for the sake of this large public and environmental
good.
In order to make this initiative a successful one,
adequate measures need to be taken by the university administration to ensure
smooth and effective implementation of this move that inter-alia include making
eco-friendly transit facilities available to the University staff within a lag
time of maximum five minutes at any location within the campus; procuring adequate
number of battery operated vehicles and
bicycles for staff and students within the shortest possible time frame; regulation
of existing parking slots using token system; establishing a helpline and
control room for making instant transit facility available to teachers
particularly in times of some emergency; making sufficient battery charging
points available and issuing entry-passes to those having genuine
health-related or other issues. Students can also be offered subsidies on loans
for purchasing battery-driven two-wheelers. J&K bank has already donated
three battery-driven vehicles and some 100 bicycles under its CSR initiative to
the University. They can also be approached for more such help now that the
University has got more serious about it. In nutshell this initiative has its
own starting trouble but can be turned into a reality by the constant support,
cooperation and sustained voluntary efforts of all stakeholders including
teachers, employees, scholars and students.
