Flora and fauna of Indian Institute of Technology Madras: Harmful Effects Caused By Human To The Environment

Harmful effects on environment due to human activities.

1. Aim:- Harmful effects on environment due to human activities.

1) To assess soil contamination and plastic pollution in IIT.

2) To asses green cover,waste disposal and vehicle pollution in IIT.

2. Hypothesis:-

Environment in IIT campus gets polluted due to unsafe way of disposing waste in IIT campus

● Animals die or get affected by eating the waste materials.

● Increase of green cover inside the campus from 1960.

2)There are chances for contamination of soil in IITand IIT faces plastic pollution.

3.Work plan:- This was planned to be a field study cum secondary reference. Data collection was done from the waste collection center (Owzone), the campus maintenance offices of IIT Madras, interviews of users and head of maintenance unit. This was supplemented by referring to books and the internet.

4. Methodology:- The methods adopted for data collection are:

1. Interviews

2. Primary data collection through study of the records of the field units.

3. Secondary data collection from the documents in the heritage center.

4. Review of the topic of the subject.

5. Data analysis was done through basic statistical analysis.

5.Experiments (If carried out):- No experiment was done.

6. Observation:-

Chemical waste - Chemical waste is generated by laboratories in the campus. Mixed chemicals, expired chemicals and large quantity of used chemical bottles are being disposed as per the rules of the Central Pollution Control Board. It is disposed at the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control landfill which handles chemical and hazardous waste. It is operated by KAMKAY and at the Industrial Waste Management Association of Tamil Nadu approved site. It is disposed separately as alkaline, solvents, toxic and solid waste. Some wastes are incinerated and toxic waste is mixed with cement and other materials before disposing.

E Waste - E-waste is generated in many parts of the campus. The wastes are collected together and disposed through authorized e waste agents.

Green cover- Constructions have not affected the green cover of IIT.

Vehicle pollution- To reduce the pollution caused by the vehicles, parking lots have been allotted; free bus service is provided so that less motor vehicle utilization is there inside IIT. IIT has future plans of allotting more space for parking lots at each gate in IIT; to prevent pollution caused by vehicles.

Waste management at IIT campus

The following are the types of waste arising in IIT campus:

Plastic waste - Plastic waste is generated mostly from residences, hostels and commercial establishments. They are in the form of plastic covers, bottles and packing material. All are degradable plastics as over a time-span of many years every plastic gets degraded due to the breakdown of the particles into small pieces. The pieces may get so small that they can be digested by microorganisms. But some are quick enough which are known as bioplastics which are made up of renewable biomass sources such as vegetable fats and oils,corn starch, or microbiota.

EXAMPLES OF DEGRADABLE (bioplastics) PLASTICS:-

Bioplastics are used for disposable items, such as packaging, crockery, cutlery, pots, bowls, and straws. They are also often used for bags, trays, fruit and vegetable containers and blister foils, egg cartons, meat packaging, vegetables, and bottling for soft drinks and dairy products.

General waste - General waste is generated from the residences, hostels, offices and commercial establishments.

Both general and plastic waste are collected by self-help groups under the project Zero Waste Zone (OWZONE). The waste is collected on a daily basis from residences door to door and in bulk from the offices and departments. These waste materials are segregated in different sheds inside the campus.

Recyclable waste is solid, organic waste is used to generate biogas and the waste that can be composed is composed and the manure generated is used for plants.

Bio waste - Bio waste is generated from hospital and biotechnology department. It is collected by G.J. Multiclave Ltd. who is an authorized agency for disposal of bio waste.

➢ We can find plastic bottles and covers thrown in the road sides.

➢ We can find soil contamination only in specific places where the plastic are dumped.

➢ The main places where we can find plastic is near

restaurants, shopping complex, residential areas etc.

➢ The animals in IIT eat the plastics in the dump yard near Velachery gate and even eat the plastics lying here and there in IITM.This will choke any part of their digestive system and can lead to their death.