ISRO takes the sleepy hamlet of Valiyamala by storm
Published March 20, 2008 | 
Thiruvananthapuram: After a long spell of red tapes and bureaucratic formalities, the Kerala Government has finally decided to give 40 acres of land at Valiyamala free of cost to the ISRO to set up a campus for the proposed space institute of Institute of Space Science Technology (IIST). The land, located close to ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Valiyamala will be acquired on fast-track basis.
This is sure to bring about further impetus to the scientific and technological advancements in the State. The institute, one of only three in the world, is currently operating from temporary premises at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thumba. IIST offers two four-year undergraduate courses in space technology and aerospace engineering and a five-year integrated master’s course in applied sciences. The selection of candidates is made from the IIT-JEE extended list. The doctoral and post-doctoral programmes could not be started this year owing to lack of facilities in the temporary campus at Thumba.
Initially, the ISRO had requested land in Ponmudi for setting up the main campus of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), but it was shelved due to some allegations of land scam. The chief minister reassured that there will not be any displacement of people when land will be acquired at Karippur Village in Nedumangad for this purpose. This facility is in addition to the 20 acre of land already allotted at Upper Sanatorium in Ponmudi for setting up a telescope centre and other facilities for this institute.
The inordinate delay in handing over the land had cast apprehensions that ISRO might shift the space institute out of Kerala as they were not in a position to wait any longer as the requisite infrastructure has to be set up before the onset of next academic year.
