Vijay Phanshikar 

 

 

 

BY EVERY definition, the suggestion is bizarre, thoughtless, and even senseless ! -- that city’s traffic be diverted through the beautiful, serene, and green campus of the prestigious Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology -- as long as the road near the Swami Vivekananda Memorial (now about to be shifted due to design requirement at the over-flow point of the Ambazari Lake) is blocked for remodelling. A celebrated political leader has initiated the idea through a letter to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). If the civic administration fails to respond positively, the leader has promised to move the District Administration in this regard. Thus, the very beautiful campus of VNIT is most likely to get invaded by the unruly city traffic at least for some time -- if the authorities agree to the idea.

 

The loosefooter shivers within himself with such bizarre, thoughtless and senseless ideas. On the surface, such ideas do sound smart and revolutionary, so to say. In actuality, however, such ideas generally stem from mindsets that are all the time waiting to pounce upon something good -- like the VNIT campus -- and disturb the good ecosystem there. And once the VNIT campus is thrown open for such a traffic diversion -- though for a few months -- the change would become unchangeable again, so to say. Meanwhile, the VNIT campus would lose its serenity and beauty and its atmosphere that fosters academic pursuit so wonderfully. When the traffic would flow through the campus -- if such a permission is at all granted in the first place -- the calmness of the area would be gone for a toss. The common people would never know, but the VNIT campus is a home to more than 200 bird species.

 

The VNIT management has prepared a catalogue-like book of coloured pictures and well-narrated information on the birds. All that will come under a serious threat once traffic flow is permitted through the VNIT campus. In fact, Nagpur should be proud of two things as regards the VNIT -- one, the prestige the institution has earned over decades; and two, the great care that has gone into making the campus so environment-friendly. Against this background, it is actually non-sensical even to think of allowing a general traffic diversion through the campus -- though for a limited period. The VNIT management is not averse to public connect; it allows common public to come into the campus for morning and evening walks and exercise. But opening up of the campus for a traffic diversion should not be acceptable to the VNIT authorities. No matter the pressure (political or otherwise), the VNIT management must never allow such a bizarre, thoughtless and senseless diversion of the general traffic through its campus.