Humidity hurdle for NIT in world’s wettest place

NIT Meghalaya insiders are not sure if dehumidifiers, a tad extra in the construction budget, can save its laboratory equipment in the long run

Excessive rain in the wettest place on earth is expected to peg one of India’s youngest technological institutes back by ₹1-crore.

But the “extra expenditure” on dehumidifiers is the least of the worries for the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Meghalaya coming up on 306.6 acres at Sohra – Cherrapunji to the world beyond – at an estimated cost of ₹429.70-crore.

The heads of the institute, functioning from its temporary campus in Meghalaya capital Shillong since 2012, are not sure if the dehumidifiers can save its laboratory equipment in the long run.

The permanent complex, under construction for almost a decade, is about 55 km south of Shillong and 20 km north of India’s border with Bangladesh.

“Our nine departments and 10 centres including the one for robotics and mechatronics will require 50 laboratories in the new complex. But our primary concern would be to maintain the humidity-sensitive equipment in 20 of these laboratories, where dehumidifiers will be installed,” Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal, NIT Meghalaya’s director, told The Hindu.

The institute did factor the humidity in but did not expect the rain to be “too much to handle”. Insiders said the rain-induced dampness would be a challenge in maintaining the non-laboratory assets of the institute too.