World Habitat Day is to be celebrated on the first Monday of October every year, and was first introduced in 1986 by the United Nations. It is mainly celebrated to reflect on the state of our cities and towns and the basic human right to adequate shelter. Also, it is celebrated to remind the world its moral duty of protecting and preserving our environment for our future generations. The Department of Civil Engineering of G H Patel College of Engineering and Technology, Vallabh Vidhyanagar (A Charutar Vidhya Mandal Institute) celebrated World Habitat Day, by organizing expert lecture, poster competition and model making competition for students. This program was associated with Indian Institution of Engineers (Vallabh Vidhyanagar). The program was inaugurated by Prof.Saswat Bandopadhyay, Professor of urban planning, CEPT University, Ahmedabad. Dr. Kuashik Nath, Chairman, IE(I), Vallabh Vidyanage local centre, in his address highlighted the importance of the topic and its social relevance.Dr. Himanshu Soni, Principal, GCET, Dr. Khadeeja Priyan, HOD, Civil Engineering department, Prof. Snehal Popli , HOD?s of various department and executive members of IE (I) were present in the inauguration ceremony. Prof. Saswat Bandhopadhyay gave students a lot of insight of the importance of World Habitat Day, and also the changes required in India. He gave smart solutions to problems the common man is facing, and the interactive session was made very enjoyable by his ability to grasp the students' attention with his presentation. Prof. J H Patel, Former professor, BVM engineering college was the session chair of the expert lecture.Dr. Indrajeet Patel was also a delight to listen to, as he was very informative and interactive. He spoke about Vishvakarma Yojana, which is an initiative taken by the government colleges of GTU. It is a very beneficial act of kindness towards small villages that need financial as well as infrastructural support. Students receive funding by the government to aid these villages and think of various solutions to the daily problems they face. They also have to spend time at these villages. Dr. Indrajeet Patel was a very insightful professor. Poster and model making completion was judged by Prof. Krunali Patel and Prof. Ajaysinh Vaghela, Civil Engineering department.Prizes for Poster and Model Making Competition were given at the end of the xpert lectures and the Program concluded with the reciting of the National Anthem. This program was very informative for the students as well as professors. It enhanced our knowledge and gave us various new ways of looking at the situation we are currently facing in India. Programs and lectures such as these are the foundation of a new way of thinking for future engineers, as they emphasize the need of looking at the broader picture of the reality of the world, which the future engineers will have to change one day.

Department: Civil Engineering