Natural Beauty and Beautification of the Campus

Natural Features of Kamand campus The name “Kamandh” means sugarcane. Kamand is situated 18 km away from Mandi.
Landscape: It is a part of the extensive West Himalayan Bio-Geography Province. It is a valley surrounded by Mountains. River Uhl, which is a right bank tributary of the river Beas flows down through the area of the campus. This is perennial river, which also flows in Barot , where a dam is constructed on it, to control the water level. A minor tributary known as Kataula ki khad(nallah) flows down through the area and drains into the river Uhl.

There are occurrences of some tiny little springs sometimes exposed and sometimes hidden behind the dark green foot land trees of the mountains. These are seen, if observed carefully along the spiraling roads of the area.The major forests types are Himalayan Subtropical Pine, Chir Pines and Lower Western Himalayan Temperate (deciduous and broadleaved) dominated by species of Oak and Rhododenron. There are variations in altitude which have facilitated to form distinct vegetation zones and unique habitats.The distributed pattern of terrestrial and aquatic habitats has contributed to the biodiversity of the campus.

Seasons: 3 distinct seasons- Winter(November-March), Summer(April-June) and Monsoon(July-September). It is warm to pleasant during April-October. The Maximum temperature tends to exceed 30° C. There is a huge variation in temperature daily and also between day and night time. Most of the time the weather is pleasant. Winters are freezing when snow descends to around 1200 m ASL. On 14th December,2014, a Sunday, there was heavy snowfall in Kamand. From 12:30 pm onwards, it started to precipitate. At first, a heavy winter shower occured followed and replaced by small white snow,which was followed by heavy snowfall ,which resembled large cottony flakes. Within a while,the 3 Mountains were covered with white snow caps.It was for the first time known, Kamand experienced snowfall. It was all of a sudden,not expected by weather forecast. There was blockage in the road connecting between Kamand and Mandi due to the slippery snow-covering. It was later cleared by using an excavator.

Development for beautification and biodiversity conservation in the campus
A) Herbal Garden is situated in Monkey Point South of IIT Kamand Campus. A good number of medicinal plants are grown in the herbal garden. There are about 25-27 species of plants. Different varieties of basil, varieties of mint, spices and other good herbs are grown here.
Few medicinal plants in the Herbal Garden, IIT Mandi are:

• Holy Basil
• Camphor Basil
• Mint
• Peppermint
• Toothache Plant
• Rudraksh Plant
• Aloe Vera
• Turmeric Plant
• Lemon grass
• Bay Leaf
• Cinnamon
• Brahmi

B) Botanical Garden is a connecting bridge between the South and the North campus of IIT Mandi. It was established on 15th July, 2015. IIT Mandi, committed to its eco-management plans and outreach activities has inaugurated the Botanical Garden in its main campus at Kamand. Several plant species endemic to the area, of high value and endangered, have been planted. These include species of fruit trees, bioengineering plants, medicinal and aromatic plants. The event was inaugurated by Prof. Timothy Gonsalves, Director, IIT Mandi, and Dr. Priscilla Gonsalves, who initiated the plantation. Apart from the faculty, staff and students, the event was participated by other dignitaries from District forest office and Nature Biotech Products Industry from Baggi, Mandi.

Towards the establishment of the Botanical Garden, a team consisting of nursery workers from Kamand area, expert horticulturists and plant science researchers are involved. The team under the charge of Dr. Shyam Masakapalli and a noted local consultant Dr. Chiranjit Parmar are working to expand the collection of plants including the rare and endangered from the state of Himachal Pradesh and elsewhere, along with their conservation, documentation and digitization. Apart from the eco-mapping study conducted at the Kamand valley, ongoing activities include setting up of herbarium, maintenance of the herbal garden and organizing outreach activities as a part of IIT Mandi’s eco-management strategy.