
Urgent Appeal for Air-Conditioned Classrooms at Ramdeobaba University


Nagpur’s brutal heat has turned RBU’s ten-floor Digital Tower into an unbearable oven. With the sun beating down on every side—unshielded by any neighboring structures—classrooms rely on ceiling fans that only circulate overheated air to roughly 70 % of student seats, while the remaining 30 % receive no airflow at all. Those students are left to bake in stagnant air, struggling to breathe, concentrate, or even stay conscious.
Studies show that learning performance peaks between 20 °C and 23 °C, but declines sharply above 27 °C, while exposures above 35 °C dramatically increase risks of heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and organ damage. Fans alone cannot mitigate these dangers when the mercury soars past 40 °C. On April 19, 2025, Nagpur hit a record 44.7 °C, and the IMD has issued yellow heatwave alerts for Vidarbha through April 25. Are we to wait for a student to faint or suffer a heatstroke before real action is taken?
Requested Actions Before July 1, 2025
These measures are suggestions—urgent cooling solutions must be implemented to protect student health and academic performance:
- Install wall-mounted mini-split air conditioning units in every classroom of the Digital Tower.
- Implement centralized ducted or VRF systems on each floor for uniform, efficient cooling.
- Apply solar-control window films to all Digital Tower windows, cutting heat ingress and energy use.
- Deploy supplemental evaporative coolers in corridors and common areas for additional relief.
- Integrate smart thermostats and upgrade insulation to optimize cooling performance and reduce operating costs.
We, the undersigned students of RBU, urgently call on the administration to confirm a detailed plan and timeline for these measures by May 15, 2025, and complete all installations before the new semester begins on July 1, 2025.
Heat-Related Incident Headlines- Maharashtra reports 34 heatstroke cases in just 10 days (including an 11-year-old boy’s fatal collapse en route to hospital in Akola) – https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/...
- Nagpur Boils at 44 °C: Students Suffer in Sweltering Exam Halls Amid Poor Cooling Facilities – https://thelivenagpur.com/2025/04/23/nagpur-boils-...
- Nagpur Heatwave: Three Suspected Heatstroke Deaths Reported in Three Days – https://www.nagpurtoday.in/nagpur-heatwave-three-s...
- IMD warns of heatwave ‘yellow’ alert in Vidarbha region through April 25, 2025 – https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/heatwave...
- Nagpur records season’s hottest day at 44.7 °C on April 19, 2025 – https://thelivenagpur.com/2025/04/23/nagpur-boils-...
- Optimal cognitive performance at 20 °C–23 °C (indoor temperature study) – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9305771/
- Fans ineffective at preventing heat illness above 35 °C – https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/341580/WHO-EURO-2011-2510-42266-58691-eng.pdf?sfvrsn=a84cdcbf_5
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