'Vellore Institute of Technology' students await rain to complete lab work

Chennai: A few engineering students at Vellore Institute of Technology are praying for more rains as it would speed up their pending laboratory work. First, the ongoing study on butterfly species and the second to study the hydrology of water inflow into water bodies using geopositioning and geospatial technologies.

“The students since last year have recorded 96 species and are short of four more species to record a centum. And this would materialise only if more rains enable butterfly migration. After a rain, you may see butterflies congregating around a puddle or damp area in the garden to drink and extract minerals from the soil. Maintaining a puddle in the same spot will keep butterflies coming back and now we are in the process of maintaining puddles”, said conservationist A. Kumaraguru of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation who is helping students with butterfly and host plant identification.

“We are waiting for rains to study the percolation of water in our nearby water bodies that are borne dry. Further our university has an artificial lake where dredging is taken up at full swing to store water and then take up the study of fresh water ecological parameters,” said professor V. Sai Saraswathi, coordinator, Nature Club VIT. Water hydrology, plant survival, birds and their predator, nutrients and insect biodiversity are now part of students’ academics.
“Rain measurement, water quality before and after rains are to be recorded by next month. Ten engineering students are now into butterfly study and another six into bird watching,” VIT students told DC.

According to VIT sources, vice president G. V. Selvam has also instructed the faculty to explore the aspects of integrating engineering and conservation so that new allied courses can be formulated for engineering graduates from next academic year.