The walk to the campus on No Vehicle Day
In a city, one cannot keep exhaust fumes out of one’s life. But one can make sure they are not adding to them. Every last Thursday of the month, MOP Vaishnav College for Women will be making sure it does not. Last Wednesday (August 28), it got the initiative rolling, observing its first Zero Vehicle Day on its campus.
Students, faculty and non-teaching staff accustomed to bringing their vehicles to the campus switched to public transport, e-vehicles, share autorickshaws and bicycles. Some even walked to the college: among those who did was the MOP principal Archna Prasad, who walked from home to college, a distance of three kilometres.
The brainchild of the Student Ministry of Environment, an arm of M.O.P. Sansad, the student council, the initiative aims to contribute towards emission reduction, make sustainability part of the campus community, and of course, help students and staff members get a little more exercise, said a press release.
Some students took share autos
As a run-up to this day, student groups made announcements through the public address system, conducted a flash mob and even posted messages on social media.
E-vehicles were permitted and those with physical challenges were exempt from the initiative. Even pre-scheduled guests to campus were requested to use public or shared transport.
Principal Archna Prasad says the plan is to observe the last Thursday of every month as No Vehicle Day. “If there is an unscheduled event or an examination then we might observe it on some other day of that week, say Wednesday or Friday,” says the principal,
The college has close to 4000 students on its rolls.
“Every day we have 800 two-wheelers and 20 cars parked on the campus. We will plan a study to see the impact we are creating with this monthly drive,” says the principal, adding that this generation is keen on making a green statement with such initiatives. And that means half the battle is won.
To address concerns regarding public transport, the student council had circulated flyers with information about bus routes.
“Every month reminders would be sent before the No Vehicle Day and this will continue till observing No Vehicle Day becomes a practice,” says Archna.
Talking about the challenges, the principal says, they had guests on campus who had to be brought on board to make the initiative a thumping success on its debut.
“Routine supplies arrive on the campus every day, and so we asked the vendors to deliver the last-Wednesday quota in advance,” she says.
This initiative joins a host of other sustainability measures that the college has undertaken. About 45 KW energy comes from rooftop solar panels. The college is a plastic-free campus.
In lieu of floral bouquets to welcome speakers and other guests on the campus, the college has started planting trees in honour of the guests, tying up with a tree-plantation agency. The growth of the tree can be tracked on a video stream available through a QR code issued by the agency, the release added.
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