The South
Campus (Barkachha) acquired by Banaras Hindu University,
on lease in perpetuity from
Bharat Mandal Trust in April 1979 with an area of 1104 ha,
is situated about 8 km South West of Mirzapur
town on Robertsganj high way (map). Physiographically and
climatically, the farm represents the entire
Vindhyan tract, covering parts of UP, MP, Bihar and
Chhatisgarh. The river Majhawati flows on the eastern
border of the farm
. The purpose of acquiring this farm basically was to
generate and transfer knowledge
and technology to the population of
neighborhood.
Earlier, Professor K.L. Shrimali, the
then Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, who in
his address assured the people of
Mirzapur, to develop this as a Centre for transfer of
knowledge and technology
from Laboratory to Land as the Mahamana's University
assumes the responsibility of a co-partner in
the various schemes of development
of under privileged and tribal people of the region. Later
Vice Chancellor, Prof. Y.C. Shimhadri, taking
cognizance of the neglect of the unfulfilled promise,
took the challenge
to develop the Barkachha farm in
the year 1999. A task force was formulated and an
ambitious draft plan
was prepared
Rs 365 Crores) and subsequently approved by the Executive
Council of B.H.U (ECR No74) on 27.6.1999 for starting
education and training programs under BHU Act 15(1) a for
the benefit of the people of
the region. Subsequently with the passage of
time, with the limited efforts towards the problem of farm
development, little
results could be achieved.
Prof. Panjab Singh, Vice Chancellor of
BHU, immediately after his joining the University, took a
serious note of the issues/problems pertaining to
Barkachha and also the past efforts and within a
fortnight, called
the first meeting on 20.05.2005 and constituted a Core
Committee to initially analyze and identify priority areas
for this farm. He took the
Barkachha issue as a "Centennial
Challenge 2005-15" and proposed that a
vision document, taking
the earlier document details as reference, be prepared for
phased development of the new South Campus to serve
as a torch bearer for this region and meet the long
cherished desire of Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya ji.
TOPOGRAPHY,
SOIL AND CLIMATE
The climate of Vindhyan region is
predominantly dry (sub-tropical to dry). Winter season is
short (Dec. to Feb.) but summer is long (March
to November). The temperature rises up to 48 C or more
during summe r and drops to 4C during Dec.-Jan. The
average annual rainfall of Mirzapur is 1059 mm, of which
90% is received by Southwest monsoon. The
normal period of onset of monsoon in this region is third
to fourth week of June, which lasts up to end of
September. About 90 per cent of the annual rainfall is
received during monsoon season, but it is highly erratic
and unpredictable, at times causing drought spells of
varying degrees and durations.
It may be emphasized here that this trend of monsoon
rains coupled with existing topo-sequence leads to
imbalance between rains received and vegetation water
demand |
