Puzhakkal river - a journey to remember

Today, I had an opportunity to visit the basin of Puzhakkal river, under the tie up project between the Water Resources Department, Govt of Kerala and Department of Civil Engineering, FISAT. The day was full of surprises that had both ups and downs as an engineer and an individual. I was so happy to meet one of my early day mentors as a teacher at the Irrigation Department Office. We had an elaborate discussion as to how to move forward with the work that has been undertaken. 

For the uninitiated, we are working on the Project for Pollution Abatement of Rivers in Kerala. The rivers are those ear marked as the most polluted by the CPCB and the National Green Tribunal of India. Even though a priority five river, Puzhakkal river being one of the largest source of irrigation to some 13,000 hectares of kole farming needs urgent retribution as a clean river. 

A joint site visit was conducted by the Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Department at Thrissur who is also the nodal officer for the program and Unni sir and myself from the college. 

An hour’s primary discussion with the members from the Irrigation Department, Hydrology division and KERI gave us a great insight into the polluted stretches of the river, potential sources of pollution in the river.  

The site visit ensued which had the basic purpose of getting a feel of the issues faced, major areas to be covered while data collection and sampling.  It gave us a grim picture of the river which feeds acres of kole farm lands in the district of Thrissur. The river is fed by a lot of tributaries and small streams and canals. Some of the important tributaries were found to be septic at points.

The residential areas, hospitals, commercial complexes within the corporation limit of Thrissur were found to have a deep impact on the ecology of the river. A total disruption of the ecosystem was evident at places. There was putrefying odor at more than one location in the canals and tributaries which evidently has been polluting the river. The presence of organic loading was visible. Water was brackish and no sign of fish life was available. 

The biggest concern to the upkeep of the river is the tendency of people to dispose off Solid waste generated directly into the canals which end up at the river. Also, the disposal of septic waste, treated and untreated sewage from residential and commercial units, hospitals and other public entities like Thrissur Railway Station, KSRTC bus stand etc. was found to be affecting the quality of otherwise pristine canals that feed the river. 

It will be a tough task rejuvenating the river without the support of the population. All work that we would be putting into the sampling, testing and planning pollution abatement techniques will be ineffective if the people are unwilling to change.

Upkeep of the quality of the river water is not just about sustainability of the river, kole farms but also about rejuvenation of flora and fauna that have been lost or on the brink of extinction in the river basin.

Jawahar Saud
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering

Teaching with a "Mask"

First things first. The satisfaction you get from teaching in a classroom is unmatched, even if it is "masked". It is almost after one year that I could see the response in the eyes of the students. It is the most rewarding experience for a teacher. So excited and concerned at the same time.

I am teaching Design of Steel Structures this year and my experience with this contact class has been much finer than expected. The students seemed a bit restrained initially, only one person in a bench, confused. Once the class kicked off, they started responding well. They responded positively, the classic head shakes, followed by occasional replies. I could see them missing the peer interaction though. Normally they help each other learn while doing numerical problems in class. Having one student per bench was an impediment for that. The speed at which they were grasping was also on the higher side - this is normally observed in revision classes when we conduct repeat session for topics that are discussed once. The online classes might have given them the basic understanding and the contact classes are probably bringing in more clarity to that.  It looked almost normal for the students, except for the mask. Of course the normal things in a class were observed - chatting in between, sharing books, the ringing mobile, checking the calculation with a neighbour and the unavoidable dozing-off.

My "masked" class!!

Yes, it is tough to lecture with a mask. The extra strain to increase the volume adds to the problem. The front masked portion of the mouth gets warmer and fills with spit and sweat 😢 and is very disgusting. One hour of class drains the complete energy and after a while, there will be a strong urge to remove it and get some fresh air. The thrill to be back in class overcomes all these discomforts. But, then again, I am not sure how long this will last 😉. 

Overall, the first class gave the impression that contact classes are beneficial. Eager to see how this evolves. Hope everything goes well.

Unni Kartha G

Professor & Head

Dept of Civil Engg.

Announcing Our New Annual Newsletter PATHWAY 2020

 “Nothing is predestined. The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.” —Ralph Blum

It is with immense pride that the Department of Civil Engineering, FISAT announces the release of our fifth annual Newsletter, PATHWAY 2020.

The creation of this newsletter was quite unlike any other newsletters we had released. The year 2020 breezed off to a promising start and then came the big bang“COVID-19” which shook and terrorised the entire world. But on the flip side, our department pursued this emerging crisis as a challenge and did not compromise on any of the opportunities that we could take up and provide back to our students and the society.

Our goal with this newsletter was to create something resourceful that would depict all the milestones achieved, the events organized and to highlight our students and faculty achievement.

Let’s hope that the New Year 2021 brings a fresh bout of excellence to our lives!

You can access the newsletter from here

Leena Samuel Panackal
Editor, Pathway
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering

Taking the next step forward - Contact Classes

Welcome final years to the campus!!! We are waiting for you!!!

This is the first challenge the campus is taking up in 2021. Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown that followed forced the campus to close last year in the month of March. Except a few university exams, the campus was literally sleeping - not hosting any classes for 9 looong months. Though the classes were happening online, the campus was not live, we missed the energy of the students and their activities. It was indeed a great loss, one lost semester!!😓

Things are slowly changing. As per the instructions of the Govt and KTU, the contact classes are beginning on Monday, 4 January 2021. This is a very precarious step - opening up the college and get the students back on campus. As of now, only final year students are allowed in - for two week contact classes. We hope to bridge the missed lab sessions and also to fill the gap of some courses which badly need an instructor to assist in the learning process.

The campus has geared up. The planning and preparations are complete. The classes, labs and hostels are sanitised, time table published, guidelines issued and students are instructed on how to take care of themselves in the campus during the contact classes. We are trying our best to ensure the safety of the students and faculty members. We have good confidence in the FISAT fraternity and certain that nothing goes wrong 💪 We will be successful in meeting the objectives of the contact classes without any glitches.

Welcome guys, let us take this small step forward, together. Lest us follow the basic protocols we learned last year!