News Article

India College an Enviromentally Friendly Institution


5/8/2003 4:12:01 PM

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View more photos of Wilf's trip to India

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View more photos of Wilf's trip to India

An instructor’s account of his mission to India

By Wilf Reigo

(Although back teaching at Corner Brook campus now, instructor Wilf Reigo - along with Patricia Ralph, Gail Gosse and Darrel Clarke - recently went on a three-week mission to India to present a series of workshops to the faculties of Periyar Maniammai College of Technology for Women and other colleges within the Periyar community of colleges within the state of Tamil Nadu. The workshops focused on accreditation, water conservation, accountability, gender perspectives, teaching techniques, and online programs through WebCT. The trip was funded jointly by College of the North Atlantic, University College of Cape Breton, the Canadian International Development Agency and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. The following is what Wilf had to say about the trip.)


India is a country of ancient times and unlimited natural resources. Its rivers, mountains and vegetation, not to forget its exotic spices and the beautiful fabrics of many styles and colors, make the country a wonderful place to visit. It is winter there and people are sneezing and are feeling cold. We were quite comfortable since their winter is really our summer back home on the “rock.” Temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees Celsius are just fine by us.

Everything in this world is “relative” in every sense of the word. Each country is unique and therefore one should learn, appreciate and accept its culture, food, religion, and especially its people. This is so true for beautiful India. India’s main religion is Hindu (80%) and it has 330 million gods and goddesses. As we traveled from village to village there were temples everywhere, some were small and some were really huge! I wondered with amazement how these temples were constructed with great detail. Most of the temples were built around a thousand years ago. The big rock slabs used to build some of the temples came from places that were several miles away. Thousands of people were definitely used here. There are other religions like Christianity (2.4%) and that is seen clearly by way of cemeteries (just like the ones we have home) and the huge Roman Catholic churches that were built some two hundred years ago.
Marriages are arranged and if you are not married at a certain age then it is not good socially and culturally. A woman is married if there are rings on her toes known as bichiya. Also, the Mangal Sutra is a yellow ribbon that represents the marital bond worn by married women. They will wear it around their necks temporarily, after which it will be replaced by a lasting chain in the same color like gold.

All the foods are mainly vegetarian, and spicy. All the plates, pots, and kitchen utensils are made from stainless steel. People drink fluids by the method of pouring in to the mouth not touching the cup at all. All use the same cup or bottle and this method prevents any germ transmission. This method is taught at a very young age. At another college we ate lunch the traditional way; banana leaves were used as plates and we ate with our hands. The food was delicious and I made sure I had seconds.

Women wear traditional saris that consist of a long fabric (five to six yards long) wrapped around the body down to the ankles. The women also wear a two-piece outfit consisting of a pair of slacks and a top that stretches down above the knee area. The many shades of fabric colors are so strikingly beautiful and exotic. Men wear shirts and pants or lungis (wrapped fabric around the waist extending to the ankles). If they are too hot or restricted to movement, the bottom of the lungi is brought up and tied to the waist making the attire like a miniskirt just like the quilts in Scotland. School starts at age 3 and all the children wear uniforms. Older people are treated with respect, discipline in the schools is never a problem, and all the students are very polite and attentive.

Periyar Maniammai College of Technology for Women

The principal of Periyar Maniammai College of Technology for Women (PMCTW), Dr. N. Ramachandran, faculty members Professor R. Nalini, Professor A.P. Aruna, and Ms. S. Jayalakshmi met us with open arms. They were very friendly, very accommodating, and made us feel like we were home. They even went out of their way to have the kitchen staff prepare French fries on the occasion for lunch and/or supper.

PMCTW offers many excellent undergraduate programs in Civil, Architectural, Electronics and Communication, Computer Science, Information Technology, Electronics, Biotechnology, and Environmental. There are graduate programs offered as well in Software Engineering, Computer and Communications, and Environmental. The one that stands out is the environmental program. The true meaning of environmental technology is definitely found here at this college. I was very much impressed how they use Mother Nature to her capacity. The institution’s main focus is on environment through agriculture, waste management, waste land development and water shed management, bio-energy, rain water harvesting, soil fertility, afforestation, bio-diversity, local resource base management and women empowerment. The whole college is based on the four R’s - reduce reuse, recycle, and recover.

The Periyar Society (established in 1952) has been a leading force in Southern India in ending gender and caste inequity as well as providing assistance to the rural and urban poor. This society has paved the way towards promoting an improved quality of life to the less privileged segments of the population. In November 1988, Periyar Maniammai College of Technology for Women was established. The task of encouraging young women into technical education and into the scientific world is one of the main goals for this institution. The plan was to also make PMCTW a state-of-the-art 100% environmentally friendly institution. The land was all barren and with little vegetation in sight. Today, there are several buildings (many more to be constructed) surrounded by trees, flowers, grass, and gardens making it a beautiful place to go to school. The college has adopted the technique where all the waste is used. The college motto, “Waste is Wealth” is truly practiced, therefore this institution is self-sufficient in many ways.

The water used for drinking, and washing comes from a well that is several hundred feet below the ground. In order to conserve water, the main line is shut off in the night to give the well plenty of time to replenish. Rain is hard to come by in India, but when it does rain, a downpour usually occurs. PMCTW has found ways to collect this water by way of channeling it to water harvesting pools. The water on the rooftops is channeled through the eaves troughs of the buildings, and then down through several pipes ending at the pools. There are also gutters on both sides of the walkways allowing the water to drain into the pools. There are several water harvester holes in the college. In the gravel areas, the land is sloped like a bowl so that water will run down to the centre producing a small pool. All the water collected is used for irrigation throughout the campus. The water used to wash the vegetables and dishes is recycled by filtration through a series of drains. The water used for bathing and washing clothes in the residence (housing approximately 800 students) is also filtered using soft grounds that are sloped. Both of these recycled waters are used for irrigation and other purpose but not for drinking.

The sun always shines in India and for this reason the college has solar panels installed throughout the campus. For example, solar panels on the campus streetlight charge the battery during the day. When evening comes, the bulb uses the charged battery to light up the campus grounds.

The biomass (plant material and animal waste) is utilized in the gasifier (100kW capacity) the power is generated. In the hostel (student residence) the biomass gasifier (20kW capacity) is used to cook food. The dairy farm wastes are fed into two biogas plants and the produced gas is utilized in the kitchen. The toilet wastes are fed into the night soil based biogas plant and the produced gas is used for cooking. Because of the effective utilization of these four plants, the usage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been reduced to 66%. The residues are used as organic manure for our farms. Coir pith (course fiber from the outer husks of coconuts) waste is decomposed and converted as manure through vermi (worm) compost process. Duck waste and poultry waste are used as organic manure. The vermiculture in-turn is used for nursery cultivation, plantation and gardening.

PMCTW also has nursery farms outside the college. These farms contain more than 250 varieties of seedlings. The college is very much committed in helping the underprivileged villages by encouraging the villagers to be independent and self-sufficient. Once the plants are developed, they are given to the people at a subsidized rate as a way to motivate them to cultivate and use their wasteland. From this process they are getting income and also the environment has been upgraded. PMCTW also has a hospital clinic that is open to the public free of charge.

The following energy gadgets are available in PMCTW campus: wind energy actuated pumps, solar water heating and pumping systems, solar street lights, solar domestic lighting systems, solar lanterns, Briquetting plants (that breaks down waste material for use as fuel for plants), a Gasification plant (that produces gas to power a 100 KW electricity generator that caters to the major requirements of the college and the residence), a thermal gasifier of 20 KW capacity to produce gas for use in the hostel kitchen, a hollow-block unit in the campus that produces recyclable concrete hollow blocks (this unit saves 310 tons of firewood that would be burnt as fuel in the kiln to produce these blocks. The blocks are then used to erect more buildings in the campus).

India’s electricity production is divided into 83.5% coal (fourth largest reserves in the world), 13.5% hydro, 2,57% nuclear, and 0.18% from other sources. PMCTW is certainly doing its share of the 0.18% segment.

Newfoundland and Labrador, and certainly the rest of Canada, take for granted the abundant natural resources that it has. We use and abuse it thoughtlessly, not minding conservation and good management. We should learn from this college because sooner or later, if we do not take care of Mother Nature, the bubble will break. If this happens we may have to rely on Periyar Maniammai College of Technology for Women for their knowledge and expertise!