In what came as a major embarrassment for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-B) management, a shocking video of a stray entering a lecture hall the IIT-Bombay campus went viral on Monday, prompting the authorities to appoint a committee to look into the human vs animal conflict issue on the campus.
The video clip showed that students present looking amusedly at the white medium-built cow with a lot dark spots that strayed into a first-floor lecture hall, walked from one end to another near the black board and later went out of the room through the aisles. A staff member is also seen driving away the stray cow. When contacted, an IIT-B spokesperson said: “There is no date or venue mentioned anywhere in the video. Hence, I cannot confirm the incident”.
Before long, the video went viral on the social media, with twitterati making having a field day. “Excellent metaphor for today’s India. A cow entering an IIT Bombay classroom,” a twitter user said. “Bovine Engineering is now part of the curriculum at IITs,” another said.
“Holy Cow!! She got in without JEE? Under which quota?,” yet another tweeted. As promised, @BJP4India produces the first cow graduate, and that too from IIT Mumbai. Leave alone Pakistan, even USA and all of Europe can never compete with this. China will now rush to produce their cow graduate. Too bad it won’t be the first ever!!,” commented a twitter user.
Later in the day, the IIT-B spokesperson said, “The Director has constituted a committee to look into the human vs animal conflict issue on the campus. The members have been discussing the matter”.
“They (the committee members) will consult Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), NGOs and animal experts before taking any conclusive steps. The BMC has removed only 2 bulls from outside the gate. Our staff and security are alert and doing their best,” IIT-B spokesperson added.
There have been many occasions in the past when leopards have strayed into the IIT-B campus from the nearby Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP). So much so that a leopard was spotted a leopard a the Metallurgy workshop on July 23, 2014. The faculty members alerted the forest department officials who laid a trap and took away the animal back into the wild.
There have also been complaints from the students about the monkey menace and spotting of a large of snakes within the IIT-B campus.
Spread over 550 acres, the IIT Bombay campus is located at Powai in north-east Mumbai between Vihar and Powai lakes. It is nestled in lush green environs.
The campus is divided into clusters of buildings, including the main building, various departmental annexes, auditoria and 18 hostels.