CUK to have 'smart, intelligent eco-campus' at Periya

By this July, a few courses will start functioning at new campus

The Central University of Kerala (CUK) in Kasargod will soon have a 'smart, intelligent eco-campus' at it's headquarters at Periya, in between Kanhangad and Neeleshwar along NH 17.

The campus will come up on  310 acre of land acquired and handed over by the Kerala Government. It will be a fully residential campus which will  cater tentatively to about 3,000 students in different academic streams by the end of 12th plan period (2015-16). In long-term perspective, the campus will cater to 10,000 students, faculty and their families, non-teaching staff in the next 15 years.

Eco- campus

“Meeting it’s academic mission in a manner that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable we believe that local materials, construction practices and the repository of knowledge and traditional wisdom combined with modern technology and innovation should be used to build the campus,” said CUK Registrar in charge V Shashidharan to Deccan Herald. “For that,the University has evolved the concept of 'smart, intelligent eco-campus,” he explained.

In addition, the campus is intended to serve its students and the larger campus community as a ‘living laboratory’ also.

The eco-campus is to be developed not only on the ground but underneath it as well, with systematically recharging ground water wells and tanks providing safe, sufficient and pure drinking water.

Well-planned, environment-friendly reed-bed zone waste water system and new biological technologies has been  conceptualised to help in reducing dependence on public utilities, while providing nutrient-rich additives for soil regeneration.

Campus will have ecological services including water, water harvesting systems, waste water and recycling, waste water agro-systems, drainage and conjoint surface and groundwater management, solid waste management and recycling, soil conservation and improvement; climate control using passive and active systems; energy systems, waste to   energy systems; intelligent building management and automation systems, and all necessary low voltage systems and networks.

Electricity to power grid

Solar panels, micro wind turbines, windmills and other renewable energy sources will be used to cater to the basic needs of the community at campus. “By heavily using alternative energy sources we are hoping not only to be independent of national power grid but also giving power back to the grid,” said Shashidharan with a smile on his face.


Campus master plan

The campus master plan includes administrative block, academic schools, departments, centres, libraries, museums, research labs, auditorium, housing,  hostels, guest houses, sports complex, playgrounds, walking paths, jogging tracks, indoor sports facilities, swimming pool, main motorways, connect roads, water  supply, sewage system, vehicle parking areas, and other common usage facilities like cafeteria, post office, central school, shopping complex, health centre recreation facilities, parks, community halls etc.

The campus master plan has been envisaged in a manner that in the long run, the university can accomodate 12 schools of studies with it’s constituent departments and centres.

The building construction at Periya has started on January 5 and if everything goes on as per the plan, by this July, some of the courses that are being conducted at a buildings at Kasargod and Padannakad     will be shifted to the new building.