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Wheels of change at IIT-B? Tumtums to bicycles

For several years, tumtums have been the only centralized transport system available for students and staff on the IIT-Bombay’s Powai campus. But with the total strength of residents swelling to almost 20,000 in the last five years, the 20 tumtums or minibuses are just not enough. In fact, IITians equate the tumtums to the Virar fast local during peak hours.

 

Students also claim that the frequency of tumtums is bad and the distance between two stops is huge, forcing them to hire autorickshaws.

The inconvenience caused to residents has forced the institute to seek alternative models for transport, including encouraging students to use their own bicycles, running CNG-run regular buses and building a sheltered walkway from the hostel to the main building and other structures.

 

While several plans are under consideration, for immediate relief, the institute has decided to encourage students to use their own bicycles on the campus. For students, who cannot afford to buy one, the institute plans to provide financial assistance to get signature bicycles. However, the details of such assistance are yet to be worked out by the authorities. IIT-B had earlier planned to organize a bicycle pooling system, wherein students can pick up cycles from various locations on the campus and drop them back after use. However, the proposal was shelved after the institute realized that there were operational problems. “To manage a centralized bicycle system would have been difficult. It is also inconvenient to use cycles during monsoon,” said U A Yajnik, dean of students’ affairs.

 

IT-B has also decided to procure five CNG-run regular buses, which will be outsourced to an external agency, for the benefit of the 20,000 residents, including more than 8,500 students and faculty members and their families. These CNG-run buses will be in addition to the 20 tumtums. The institute is also studying the viability of building a sheltered walkway from Hostel 12 to the main building and the academic buildings. “It is the most doable solution we have come across. Long corridors are already available. Students generally prefer walking to their classrooms, and would definitely like to walk under a shelter,” said Yajnik.

 

Among other plans under consideration are plying buses similar to those used at airports for transporting flyers from one terminal to another and electric trains. An official said that civil engineering students can work on the electric train project and even get hands-on experience on the same. However, these plans, if feasible, will take three to five years to materialize.Cheap transport, but difficult to find

 

* Tumtums were introduced to provide cheap bus transport for commuting on the IIT-B Powai campus and also to keep the premises pollution-free

 

* However, students claim that a tumtum is hard to find when they need it the most, forcing them to use autorickshaws

 

* With the introduction of OBC quota, the number of students on the campus has increased, leading to crowding on the tumtums problems, especially during peak hours

 

* The drivers also have gone on strike several times in the past as they are under pressure to bear the extra passenger load, said an official of the institute.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-28/news/43461685_1_civil-engineering-students-bicycles-students-and-staff

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