Students of Gujarat Tech Varsity to research on state's ecology

To assess the damage that is being caused and take a stock of the ground situation of Gujarat's ecology over the years, Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has decided to conduct a detailed research project across the state.

Named 'Environmental Mapping of Gujarat,' the project will be executed with the help of GTU's affiliate colleges. Students of almost 490 engineering, pharmacy and management colleges will be assigned the work of collecting data about the ecology of the state.

After gathering the data, they will enter it in a software which will generate simulated 3D models for mapping the current state of environment and predict the potential damages to the ecology.  

According to Akshai Aggarwal, vice-chancellor of GTU, such a large scale endeavour has never been attempted before by any university, and this is the first time that thousands of students will be involved in this mammoth task.

"Few years back, MS University had done some work related to mapping, so we are also taking their help in this regard," said Aggarwal. The colleges have already been informed to list all the students who can participate in this task, he further said.

Students will be required to collect data regarding water table, green cover, forests etc. in their respective areas.

After that a simulation model will be generated, which will provide the exact idea about the damage and subsequent action required for saving the ecology of the state, the VC said. 

Noticeably, data collection will be done every year.  "This is not a one-time affair. We will gather data every year, so that we can assess and compare the situation," Aggarwal added.

Mapping of the environment will require a scientific approach in collecting the data as well as sophisticated simulation software to analyse and interpret them. The university has already started work on developing such software.

"We are taking help of a green technology expert, who is also our honourary director, to impart training as well as developing the software," the V-C said.

He stressed on the need to have a detailed environmental map of the state to predict damage and steps required to mitigate it. "We must know if we can afford one million more vehicles within next five years? And if yes, then how many trees will be cut or how much green cover we will lose," Aggarwal explained.