With a cup of cutting chai and Parle-G at 8, the work started for the day while you managed to attend and stay awake during your 9 am class. All of us have witnessed dozens of workers amidst the concrete covers, wearing helmets and the accompanying huge machinery – excavators, cranes, concrete mixtures, piles of bricks, cement and mortar. These are just the daily view of ongoing construction that doesn’t escape the eyes of any campus resident (Who manages to make it out of their rooms). In a couple of years, the fruit of us breathing in dust and that concrete smell so often would be enjoyed by the new incoming batches. We believe that everyone should be aware of what all buildings are going to be erected all around the campus. Hence, to know more about the constructions underway within the campus premises, Vox visited a few sites and tried to gather the information about the work in progress.
We believe that everyone should be aware of the buildings going to be erected all around campus. Hence, to know more about the constructions underway within the campus premises, we visited a few sites and tried to gather the information about the work in progress.
NCL 2.0:
Next to the new core labs, a new building for labs is under construction. More labs! Yay? The project, which started in March 2018, was initially planned to be completed by March 2020, but we live in India. As per the current progress, the work is likely to continue the entire year. The plan was approved by our former director, Dr. Manindra Agarwal, and was assigned a massive budget of 109 crores (approx).
“The building is 5 storied and larger than the present core labs,” said the security officer in the area. The project is securely managed by Swadeshi Civil Infrastructure and is under fast pace construction with 12-hour everyday work timings.
Aerospace Department Building:
Next to the top-secret posh building named IME, the construction of the aerospace department building is in progress. The retrofitting of the building has been underway from September 2018 and is aiming for completion by the end of 2020. It is supposed to be a 6-floor tall building with a basement and other amenities, including fire alarms, CCTV systems, and a Building Management System(BMS) for centralized management of the infrastructure. The project cost is estimated to be under 58 crores.
National Aerosol Facility:
Besides the sixth avenue, around the New Core Labs, the National Aerosol facility center is being extended from the ground plus three floors to seven floors. Currently, the fourth floor of the center has the Technopark, which is an independent non-profit company supported by the institute. The upbuilding four stories are to be taken up by Technopark itself. The work has just started, and its completion shouldn’t take more than just a year, ideally.
Computer Centre (CC):
Under the first phase of the National Supercomputing Mission(NSM), an advanced supercomputer delivering 1.6 petaflops is being installed at the computer center. In human terms, 50 million people would all have to make a calculation at the same time, every second, for an entire year, to match what it can do in just one second. ‘The estimated cost of its set up is around 40 crores for the machines, with an additional 5 crore expense on infrastructure.’ informed Mr. Brajesh Pandey, Principal Computer Engineer.
Core Labs Extension:
Between the TA101 lab and the DoAA canteen, aka the neutral ground, yes, you guessed it right, even more labs are being constructed! The framework is targeting a basement and 3 stories, kindred to the established labs around the area. The work was destined to be completed by April this year. Still, witnessing the condition, it will undoubtedly take more than a year. The estimated cost is around 10 crores.
Library:
One of the most awaited construction updates is of the fountain in front of the library, which has been dysfunctional for around 7 years, and there are no signs of its revival. Sources say it will be made into a Japanese Water Garden, which you can witness for yourself if you’re seated at a good vantage point nearby. The work is undertaken, and the area is all covered, ultimately disrupting your field of vision. All one can hope for is a dramatic transformation of the ground to bring back the lost fascination of all. Or one can be delighted by the fact that the area won’t serve as a breeding ground for tadpoles, waterborne diseases and fungi in monsoon anymore.
Written by: Astha Pant, Devansh Parmar
Edited by: Ankur Banga
