Manipal Institute hopes to bag Guinness record

Looking for a slot in the Guinness Book of World Records, the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) students put together an 8.65 kilometre long straw structure, which, they said, eclipsed the earlier record of 6.23 kilometres set in Los Angeles.

The students who performed the feat will now have to wait for Guiness officials to ratify it as a world record.

They finished the structure in 2.35 hours, Rishab Sachdeva, the brain behind the show, said.

Udupi deputy commissioner Sham Bhat and a team completed the formality of recording the measurements.

The students were all too excited about this event. Specially designed straws were brought for the purpose. Care was taken all along the route to ensure nothing spoiled the fun, as it would have to run across roads, driveways and other places used by vehicles.

Sachdeva said over 40,000 pieces of straw were used for the purpose and over 500 students participated in exercise.