Around 100 students came on cycles and professor Nitin Barve said they were glad when DCP Sanjay Jadhav, whom they had invited as a guest, also shunned his vehicle and preferred to enter the college walking.
The staff and students of Birla College involved themselves in a unique concept on Monday, as none of them brought their vehicles within the college premises. After a week-long survey within the premises, they had come to a conclusion that more than 1,800 vehicles visit the college premises daily and all of them together emit 800kg of carbon.
So, in a bid to curb air pollution, they unanimously decided to not bring any private vehicles and completely rely on public transport.
Around 100 students came on cycles and professor Nitin Barve said they were glad when DCP Sanjay Jadhav, whom they had invited as a guest, also shunned his vehicle and preferred to enter the college walking. From the principal to our disabled clerk, most of the staff walked from home till the college," added Barve. The college had coordinated with the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Transport and the traffic police to ensure a few extra buses were provided during college hours and had also requested them to not tow away the vehicles of visitors who will be unknown to the No Vehicles Day celebrations.
With the success of the day, No Vehicles Day will be planned every month henceforth as the students and staff are trying to set an example through this initiative. They also hope that other colleges will also follow suit. "This is our step towards a clean city. We had done a survey before we announced this day. The 1,800 vehicles that visit our college daily consume around 400 litres of fuel. With the aim to reduce pollution and fuel consumption, we introduced this concept and were glad to see the overwhelming response. While many came walking to the college, some took to the cycles," added Barve.
According to the teachers, the college atmosphere turned peaceful as there was no noise of speeding or honking vehicles. "I was surprised that all the classrooms had regular attendance, as we have many students who use bikes. We thought they would not turn up, but the lectures happened as scheduled and the college premises was cleaner then before. We are making plans to make this a monthly affair and will also co ordinate with the municipal transport to introduce regular buses in this route as it will help encourage students to choose public mode of transport rather than get their own vehicles," said Naresh Chandra, principal.
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