Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur - Civic amenities

The institute campus has six guest houses, a civic hospital, four nationalised banks, four schools, a railway reservation counter and a police station within its limits. The campus has its own water pumping station, electrical sub-station, telephone exchange, a market, six restaurants, and a garbage disposal section for the daily needs of the residents.^[5] Construction is going on for another guest house and a convention centre having a capacity of 2,000. The institute draws its supply of water from wells near the Kosai river (located 112 kilometres away from institute) by harnessing sub-surface water. Three deep wells near the institute supplement the supply from the river. The water is supplied by a 16-inch (410 mm) pipeline to 12 tanks in the campus with a total capacity of 2,800,000 litres (615,000 imperial gallons). However students have recently shown dissatisfaction with the current level of amenities, especially the civic hospital, forcing the director to resign.^[21]

IIT Kharagpur is located just outside the town of Kharagpur, in the Hijli village. The civic amenities provided to the campus of IIT Kharagpur make it nearly self-sufficient with regards to the basic needs of the residents. As Kharagpur is a small town, there is limited direct interaction between the campus community and the town. There is also little opportunity for the employment of family members of the faculty. Unlike some other IITs (such as IIT Bombay), IIT Kharagpur does not restrict outsiders' entry into the campus.^[22] IIT Kharagpur provides much of its benefits to the local community through the Rural Development Centre (RDC) located in the campus. Established in 1975, the RDC helps the local community by developing customised technologies.^[23] The RDC also co-ordinates the National Service Scheme (NSS) programs in IIT Kharagpur, with the members of NSS taking part in weekly community service activities such as sanitation, road construction, teaching and building educational models.

Beginning in 2005, IIT Kharagpur started construction of a boundary wall for the security of the campus, which is now complete. Mild restrictions apply to entry of outside vehicles. The boundary wall was opposed by the local community as it would hinder their access to amenities provided by the institute. Campus residents have also been denied direct access to the adjoining Hijli railway station as a result of this wall. The local community also opposes the construction of a flyover from the railway station to the campus, as it would lead to substantial losses of opportunity for the shops along the roads.^[24] The construction of the 1052.69 m long flyover has been approved by the Indian Railways and West Bengal state government. It will be formally called Hijli Road overbridge, and will be constructed for estimated cost of Rs. 237 million ($ 5.3 million).^[25]

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