The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) technological extravaganza Techfest may be five months away, but the organisers as part of their social and campus responsibility have decided to organise a campus tour for freshers wherein they will be briefed about run-ins with wildlife. The organisers will rope in wildlife experts who will explain about the do’s and don’ts in the event of spotting leopards, snakes or even confronting domesticated animals that can be quite easily spotted on campus.
Speaking about the initiative, Shrey Singh, manager Techfest ’13 said that due to the proximity of the IIT-B campus to Aarey Milk colony that there have been instances of leopards straying into the campus. The Aarey Milk Colony is connected to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. “New students are usually awed by the sheer size of the campus and tend to go for walks to explore every nook and corner in their initial days. That is when they usually get the shock of their lives when they run into wild animals especially snakes that breed in the lush green confines of the campus,” said Mr Singh.
He admitted that while the students were told about the same during orientation, they only become alert when they themselves or some other students narrate incidents of run-ins with wild animals.
“For the safety of the new students who will probably be joining the institute within the next few weeks, we have decided to conduct a campus tour as well as get a wildlife expert who will brief the students about the do’s and don’ts during leopard and snake sightings,” said Mr Singh.
The initiative of Techfest is expected to kick off just before the new academic year starts by the end of this month.