HYDERABAD: On a particularly bright day in 2017, chuckles and conversations filled the spacious hall of Hotel Taj Vivanta in Hyderabad where Osmania University alumni had gathered to felicitate professors from the Chemistry department. In attendance were a number of well-known individuals and public personalities, who had been students of this prestigious institution in the 1970s and 80s. While the function was meant to honour the lecturers and professors who inspired students to reach for the skies, an idea to band together and overhaul the varsity’s Chemistry block took shape. After years of work and planning, the new block is set to be inaugurated on January 7, 2023.
It all started in 2016, when Venepalli Bhaskar Rao, CEO of CiVenti Chem in the US, Rajya Sabha MP B Parthasarathi Reddy, who is also the chairman and managing director of Hetero Group, Avula Bhaskar Reddy, a retired Income Tax commissioner, and a few other alums from the Chemistry department wanted to felicitate the professors who played a big role in their success. For this reason, they planned to throw a grand party at one of the city’s poshest venues. However, the ‘bond’ing session soon turned into a brainstorming one to come up with ideas to give back to their alma mater.
Media reports often show OU’s crumbling infrastructure and lack of facilities. To change this, the alumni group registered itself as the OU Chemistry Foundation with Prof K Kondal Reddy at the helm of affairs. The idea of the group was to promote high-quality teaching and research — firstly at the chemistry department of the OU campus, then at the College of Science in Saifabad and also in the Chemistry department at Koti Women’s College, which has now been upgraded into a women’s university.
They started by identifying items that were in need of immediate attention at the OU Chemistry block. Students often complained that rainwater would seep in from the roof of the 70-year-old building. To address this, they changed the entire plumbing, sewerage and electrical circuit system in the entire block. This apart, they also constructed modern toilets, installed drinking water filters and air conditioning units, and renovated the laboratories, classrooms, lobby and other common areas. A fresh coat of paint was also applied to give the historic building an elegant look.
The roof of the building was also sealed with smart care water-proofing membrane and the old water tanks built in brick were replaced with synthetic tanks, which were lightweight. From an existing borewell, a pipeline was laid to fill the tanks on the roof, enabling 24-hour water supply in the block.
More than rS 5 crore was collected from the alumni, which included Manne Satyanarayana Reddy, chairman of MSN Group and Sudhakar Vidiyala of Invagen Pharmaceuticals Inc, apart from Bhaskar Rao and Parthasarathi Reddy.
Motivating students
The man behind the coordination and execution of works is Bhaskar Reddy. Speaking to TNIE, he mentions that the biggest challenge was to overhaul the old plumbing and electrical lines as the work had to be carried out without disturbing the classes. Renovating and refurbishing the labs was done to motivate the students and research scholars to study well and research, he adds.
As many as 30 lecturers from India and abroad have also been arranged as guest lecturers so that students and scholars could learn the modern methods of teaching and get acquainted with innovations and research from across the world. The initiative will not be restricted to only the Chemistry departments but other departments will also be renovated in a similar manner in the years to come, assures Bhaskar.
NEW CHEM BLOCK TO OPEN ON JAN 7
While the move to overhaul the entire Chemistry block of Osmania University began in 2017, the works, after spending over Rs 5 crore, ended only recently. The new block is set to be inaugurated on January 7, 2023. The list of works undertaken include overhauling of the plumbing, electrical and sewerage systems.