# Pulling off a feat

**Source**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/pulling-off-a-feat/
**Parent**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/

Planning
and
designing
infrastructure
for the
first
ever IIT
campus
outside
India
sounds
like a
ton of
paperwork
and a
logistical
nightmare,
given
that the
project
involves
the
Ministry
of
Education
(MoE),
Govt. of
India,
IIT
Madras
and
Ministry
of
Education
and Vocational
Training
(MoEVT)
Zanzibar-Tanzania.
Prof.
Ligy
Philip,
Dean,
Planning,
IIT-M,
discusses
what
went
into the
making
of the
historic
campus
at
Zanzibar,
and the
challenges
that lie
ahead

**Srivatsan
S**

When
Ligy
Philip
was
chosen
as the
professor-in-charge
of
infrastructure
for
IIT-M’s
first
offshore
campus
at
Zanzibar,
Tanzania,
the news
did not
come as
a
surprise.
As the
Dean,
Planning,
Ligy has
been
responsible
for
IIT-M’s
thriving
and
futuristic
infrastructure,
on
campus,
over the
last
decade.

She
became
the
Chairperson
of
Engineering
Unit in
2014 and
later
the
Dean,
Planning
(Infrastructure
and
Finance),
in 2017,
and has
been
involved
in
various
aspects
of
planning,
development
and
sustainability
of IIT-M
as well
as the
163-acre
Discovery
Campus
at
Thaiyur.

Ligy
casually
namedrops
some of
the
mammoth
projects
she has
undertaken
at
IIT-M:
construction
of
B-type
apartments,
New
Academic
Complex
(second
version),
Biotechnology
Block
(second
version)
Mandakini
Hostel,
Sports
Complex
and so
on.

She sees
the
latest
distinction
— as
Professor-in-charge
of
infrastructure
at the
IIT
Madras
Zanzibar
— as an
“extension”
of her
decorated
portfolio.
“The
only
difference
is, it
is not
in India
this
time,”
laughs
Ligy, as
we sit
for a
conversation
on what
went
into the
planning
of the
Zanzibar
campus.

Before
we
start,
Ligy
acknowledges
the
responsibility
bestowed
upon
her. “It
is going
to be a
challenge
since it
is our
first
international
campus
and I am
aware
that all
eyes are
on us.
Our aim
is to
make a
truly
world
class
institute
that has
a mix of
[Indian,
Zanzibar
and
global]
cultures.
In a
way,
it’s not
a new
challenge
for me;
I’m
confident
that we
will do
a good
job,”
she
says.

The
first
step
towards
planning
an
international
campus
of the
size of
IIT
Madras
Zanzibar
— with a
promised
215-acre
land —
was to
determine
the
larger
relevance
of
having
such a
global
institution.
“We have
to plan
in such
a way
that
there
are no
missteps.
That is
very
important
to us.
For
instance,
we are
not
going to
get
extra
land for
the next
20
years.
Our goal
right
now is
to set
up a
campus
for
3,000 to
5,000
students,”
adds
Ligy.

The
catch?
There
are two
governments
involved
in the
Zanzibar
project.
Which
means
that
unilateral
decisions
offer
little
to no
help.
Which is
why Ligy
says
that the
Zanzibar
project
will
have a
Planning
Committee
consisting
of
distinguished
members
from
India
and
Zanzibar,
who have
envisioned
such
campuses
both
locally
and
internationally.
“The
committee
will
decide
on how
the
permanent
campus
should
be. We
have
been
thinking
of
recruiting
a few
international
consultants
as
well,”
she
says.

**Winds
of
change**

Setting
up an
international
campus
as big
as IIT-M
Zanzibar
sounds
like a
ton of
paperwork
and a
logistical
nightmare,
given
that the
project
involves
a lot
of back
and
forth
between
the two
countries.
Ligy’s
primary
concern,
however,
is the
execution
part. “I
don’t
see any
challenge
in terms
of
planning
since we
will
have a
committee
with
experienced
people
who will
be
helping
us out.
Whether
we get
good quality
construction
workers,
materials
and so
on…those
are the
challenges.”

For the
permanent
campus,
the land
has been
identified,
inspected
and
reported
to the
Government
of
Zanzibar
that has
given
its
approval.
Once the
formal
paperwork
is done,
plans
are on
to lay
the
foundation
stone in
November
2023.
“There
is a lot
of weed
growth
in that
area,
which
has to
be
cleared.
We have
to put a
boundary
mark and
construct
walls.
Before
that, we
have
come up
with a
budget
and get
it
approved
[by
them]
because
the
entire
funding
comes
from
there.”

Unlike
the
630-acre
IIT-M,
whose
current
student
count
stands
at a
staggering
12,500,
the
Zanzibar
campus
is
primed
to have
a lot of
interactive
spaces
for
students;
something
the
parent
institution
lacks,
believes
Ligy.

Facilities
are
being
planned
to cover
the
demography
of
students
from
undergraduate,
postgraduate
and
doctoral
programmes.
“Naturally,
there
will be
a lot of
laboratories,”
she
says,
adding, “At
the same
time, we
are
going to
give
regional
importance.
We want
to
factor
in all
of these
during
the
planning
phase.”

There
isn’t a
concrete
time
frame as
to when
the
permanent
campus
will be
fully
functional,
although
the work
is
likely
to begin
by the
end of
this
year.
Which is
why Ligy
hopes to
execute
the
monumental
task at
hand in
carefully-planned
phases.

Phase I
will
have the
essentials:
“Like
hostel
accommodation,
for
instance,”
says
Ligy,
adding,
“Depending
on the
requirement,
we will
come up
with the
skeleton,
which
can
later be
converted
into an
actual
project.”

A new
building,
which
was
constructed
for the
Karume
Institute
of
Science
and
Technology,
has been
given to
IIT
Madras
by the
Government
of
Zanzibar
to set
up a
temporary
campus
in
Bweleo
district
of
Zanzibar,
until
the
permanent
campus
is ready
for
operations.

Since
the
building
was
constructed
to serve
the
purpose
of a
regular
college,
Ligy
says, a
lot of
modifications
had to
be made
to
classrooms
as well
as other
facilities.
The
modified
building
is now
equipped
with
smart
classrooms,
seminar
halls
and an
open air
auditorium
for
students
to meet
and
interact
with.

“It
wasn’t a
residential
campus,
so
dining
facilities
were not
there.
We had
to do a
dining
hall and
a
laundry
dispensary
facility,”
says
Ligy,
adding
that the
hostel
had to
be
renovated
too.

The
temporary
facility
can now
house 70
students
for the
first
year.
“But we
do plan
to rent
out some
place
for
other
students
nearby
so that
they can
stay
together.
There is
an
international
residential
colony
that is
not even
5kms
from the
campus,”
she
adds.

The
Government
of
Zanzibar,
informs
Ligy,
did not
insist
for the
campus
to be a
100
percent
residential
institution.
But the
team
from
IIT-M
felt
that
having a
residential
campus
has its
merits
on
students,
benefitting
them
from
co-living
and
co-learning.
At the
same
time, an
international
housing
colony
right
next to
the
campus
has been
selected
to put
up
faculty
and
staff,
so that
they
don’t
need to
stay on
campus
like the
IITs.

Ligy
says
that 70
percent
of civil
and
electrical
work are
complete
for the
Zanzibar
campus,
which is
eyeing
for a
grand
inauguration
on
October
24,
2023.
Furniture,
mostly
flexible
types
that can
easily
be
converted
to meet
other
purposes,
has
been sourced
from
India.
“What we
are
thinking
in the
new
campus
is, we
don’t
want to
make
anything
rigid.
If it’s
a
classroom
then it
should
not just
serve
the
purpose
of a
classroom
forever
[like in
IIT-M,
where
classrooms
are
mostly
empty in
the
afternoon].
Like, it
can be
converted
into a
conference
room
too, for
instance.
We don’t
want
to waste
space,”
she
says.

**Gajendras
at
Bweleo**

In
September,
IIT-M
was
certified
with a
platinum
rating
(with a
score of
80 out
of 90)
from The
Indian
Green
Building
Council
(IGBC)
as a
result
of an
independent
audit
for its
performance
towards
achieving
a green
campus.
Similar
plans
have
been
envisioned
for the
permanent
campus
at
Zanzibar,
with
sustainability
being
the root
of their
development
master
plans.

“We want
the new
campus
to be
climate
resilient
since
it’s on
an
island.
Right
from the
materials
to
construction,
we will
be
looking
into
each and
every
aspect.
The
design
will be
in such
a way
that
there is
minimum
use of
air
conditioners
since we
will
benefit
a lot
from the
sea
breeze,”
she
says,
adding,
“We will
also be
looking
into
renewable
sources of
energy.
We will
definitely
be
recycling
water
[like we
do at
IIT-M]
as the
campus
grows.
Solar is
another
area we
are
looking
at.”

Ligy
will
leave
for
Zanzibar
in the
first
week of
October
to
supervise
the
remaining
work
before
the
official
launch.
But what
about
the
permanent
campus?
Will it
have the
characteristics
of IIT-M
or have
its own
character?

“Certainly
both,”
assures
Ligy,
adding
that
IIT-M
Zanzibar
will
have the
facets
and
features
of both
India
and
Tanzania.
“We want
the
international
campus
to have
a mix of
cultures
[from
India,
Tanzania
and
global].
Though
the goal
is to
set up
an
institution
that is
world-class,
we have
to
respect
the
regional
culture
at the
same
time.”

As a
matter
of fact,
work has
already
begun to
install
IIT-M’s
iconic
Gajendra
Circle,
which
has been
the
symbol
for what
the
institution
stands
for, at
the
temporary
campus.
“Instead
of two
Indian
elephants,
there
will be
one
African
and one
Indian
elephant
on
either
side,”
she
says,
“The
African
elephant
will
hold the
Zanzibar
and
Tanzania
flags, while
the
other
elephant
will
hold the
Indian
flag.”

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