Sustainable Development Cell

The Sustainable Development Cell (SDC) of Aligarh Muslim University serves as the central coordinating body for planning, implementing, and promoting the university’s sustainability initiatives, fully aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the NAAC 2022 Guidelines. Strengthened by AMU’s deep-rooted commitment to environmental stewardship, resource efficiency, ecological conservation, and responsible governance, the Cell develops policies, monitors green practices, and guides every academic and administrative unit in weaving sustainability into its routine operations.

These efforts rest on an impressive legacy of green infrastructure. Centuries-old heritage trees that enrich campus biodiversity, one of India’s earliest operational wastewater recycling plants still efficiently treating and reusing water decades after its establishment. The active involvement of Faculty in the EU-funded SWINGS and PAVITR projects for innovative Ganga water restoration, an extensive rainwater harvesting network that recharges aquifers across the campus, and a 6.5 MW solar power system, the largest among Indian universities, comprising a 3.3 MW ground-mounted plant and 4.8 MW of rooftop installations that supply clean energy to hostels, classrooms, and laboratories.

AMU’s sustainability drive draws strength from several dedicated units:

• AMU Building Department: Ensures that sustainability principles are integrated into building design. It incorporates features such as rainwater harvesting, water recycling, and other environmentally responsible practices to promote resource efficiency and support the university’s sustainability goals.
• Centre for Integrated Green and Renewable Energy (CIGRE): Offers M.Tech. in Green Energy & Sustainable Development, conducts research on renewable integration and decarbonisation, and runs campus-wide training on solar, LED adoption, and energy-efficient appliances.
• Eco Club (Cultural Education Centre): Organises clean-up drives, wealth-from-waste projects, cyclathons, eco-marathons, slogan/debate competitions, kite festivals, and street plays to foster environmental awareness among students.
• Department of Land & Gardens: Leads massive tree-plantation drives, maintains heritage landscapes, develops low-water sustainable gardens (e.g., G20 Garden), and collaborates on green audits for soil and water conservation.
• Electricity Department: Runs energy saving campaigns, shares practical conservation tips, promotes the university’s 6.5 MW solar plants, and recognises energy-efficient departments and hostels.
• University Health Office: Integrates environmental health in Swachhta drives, honours sanitation staff, and highlights the link between cleanliness, pollution control, and community well being.

Through sustained awareness campaigns, inclusive stakeholder engagement, careful documentation of environmental achievements, policy formulation, and regular structured audits, the SDC continues to steer Aligarh Muslim University toward a greener, more resilient, and genuinely sustainable future.

The Members of the Sustainable Development Cell (SDC): 

1. Member In Charge, Building Department
2. Member In Charge, Land & Gardens
3. Coordinator, Centre for Integrated Green and Renewable Energy
4. University Health Officer
5. President, University Eco Club, CEC
6. Director, IQAC
7. Joint Registrar Council's Section
8. Member In Charge, Electricity Department (Convener)