Environment Issues in IIT Madras Hostels

As everyone thinks IIT Madras hostel are constructed with environmental issues. In this resource I have explained about the environmental issues about the IIT Madras with the students perspective. Let me explain what students think about IIT madras hostels. The first year Btech respondent, who shares his room with other btech, is quite okay with the room. All necessities are present in the room. The respondent finds LAN to be a major part of the hostel infrastructure and hostel life. The lifts break down quite often. Toilets are badly maintained. He has turned his bed around. This provides more space in the room and hence can accommodate more people. He felt the need for an extra chair. It again comes in handy when more people are around. He found the hostel facilities more than that he expected. The respondent's lifestyle has completely changed. More freedom is available to him now. His sleep patterns have also changed. He is not very religious and does not mind missing out on cultural events and festivals.

The final year MA student believes that hostel facilities are quite decent, except for the design of the building. He has placed more furniture in his room (extra wooden shelf, table, and chair) and has closed entry for pigeons from the window. He has decorated his room with posters, mattress, hangings, etc. Before coming to the institute he saw the pictures of the old hostels and imagined his room to be something similar, but as he was allotted a new hostel and this was different from what he expected. Hostel life has changed his sleep patterns and he laments washing his own clothes. He finds ventilation okay, although he himself does not spend much time in his room anymore. He spends more time in the department common facilities. As for the design improvements the respondent opined that rooms should be in a line. The new hostels have much less interaction amongst residents, and the respondent feels that design aspects have something to do with it.

The Mtech. respondent, who is also the general secretary of the hostel council and is responsible for some aspects of the daily running of the hostel, also finds toilets unclean. The other facilities are decent and comfortable. He wanted design improvement in chair (which is uncomfortable for sitting for long hours), number of washing machines that hostels are allowed to purchase (increased student intake means greater pressure on washing machines and greater wear and tear and need for maintenance) and water dispensers (in which you have to lift heavy water bottles weighting up to 20 kgs in order to replace the empty bottles, something which is challenging for physically weak and differently-abled residents). He feels the need for an extra table which is not fixed and a foldable/collapsible bed which can be folded into the wall in the morning or when not in use. This will create more space in the room, when the bed is not being used. He found the ventilation suitable and said the design of the hostel, he himself being a civil engineer, was optimum for light and wind, considering the space and design constraint that institute rules had placed upon the architect. He did not have any prior expectation before coming to hostel, and he thinks that the change in sleep pattern has more to do with academics (where he has to complete big assignments in short time, work in labs during late hours and search internet) than with the hostel in general. He uses only TV room and computer room (for playing carom). He suggested that the room should have a reading light where the fixed table has been provided and there should be place given inside the room to use hangars, because otherwise students use nails to hang clothes which damage the walls. This was his first hostel experience and he faced no adjustment problems, and enjoys the freedoms of hostel life.

The PHD respondent finds most of the facilities are okay, except for toilets, wash basins and faucets. He finds the iron chair with no reclining support uncomfortable for studying and uses it to pile up unwashed clothes. He has placed mirrors, hangars, whiteboards, a clothesline, reading light near the fixed table in addition to some posters and calendars inside his room. Before coming to the hostel he thought that they will be allotted small rooms, and hence was pleasantly surprised by the room size, as well as the glass lifts. He says that floors inside the room could have been given a better look, as they do not differ from the floor in the corridor. He has not faced any significant changes in lifestyle. Hostel has a social secretary who takes care of celebrating most of the major festivals and distributing sweets and organizing poojas. Due to this culture, he does not miss any major festivals and is quite happy with these celebrations, which often provide moments where most of the residents gather together and celebrate. He enjoys games which are often organized as part of the celebrations. He is okay with the current amount of sunlight and ventilation. He only uses TV room and suggested collapsible beds which fold into the walls as design changes. He feels that the current hostel life is better than his last experience and being already accustomed to hostel life, had no problems in adjusting to this hostel.

The two IIIT Kancheepuram respondents share their room with other students of IIIT. But due to differences in academic performance and aptitude they are not really good friends with their roommates. They find lack of cleanliness and proper drainage in toilets appalling. Chairs are not ergonomically designed and they use to pile their books. They found hostels as they had expected, since they had already looked up on the internet about the facilities provided. They do, however complain about the lack of geysers, frequent internet outages and missing fixtures in the washrooms. They have not yet experienced any drastic lifestyle changes and are happy with the cultural celebrations inside the hostel.

Environment Issues in IIT Madras Hostels

Environment Issues in IIT Madras Hostels

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