IET India observes World Water Day 2021

Bengaluru: The Institution of Engineering and Technology, India observed World Water Day (WWD) 2021 in a virtual event today. The theme for this year’s WWD as per United Nations is - Value of Water. Featuring members of the Water Working Group of its Future Tech Panel, the discussions at the virtual event revolved around how technology can bring about a positive change to the country’s water scenario.

Dr Rishi Bhatnagar, President, Aeris Communications and Chair of the IET Future Tech Panel kicked off the event online and discussed how “revive, renew and optimise” should be the mantra for securing a better water future. He shared how AI has been able to help rejuvenate lost rivers and restore them and the possibilities that technology can have in renewing and optimising water usage. Prashant Tripathi, Co-Chair of the IET Water Working Group and Head – IoT Technology, Pentair Water India presented the IET Water Working Group’s charter and their plans to contribute to the national priority of water.

Dr Pradeep Srivastava, Executive Director, TIFAC who also co-chairs the IET Water Working Group, discussed how Jal Jeevan Mission is working to deliver the Water for All Mission. His session also explored complexities surrounding water – as a resource and how the government is aiming to tackle challenges using future technologies. 

Ganesh Shankar, Founder & CEO, FluxGen and Member of the IET Smart Cities Working Group shared his own journey of building a career in water. He urged youngsters to consider careers in water and use their abilities to build unique solutions that will help the country. The theme for this year, Value of Water was elaborated upon by Dr Ajith Chandran, Director – Development Interlinks International – another key member of the IET Water Working Group. Value of Water is much more than the price we pay for it, and therefore the socio-cultural, economic angles of water need better consideration and intervention was his message for the day. Rajesh Mathur, Advisor, ESRI and member of the IET Water Working Group focused on Non Revenue Water – a key challenge in the way of water security. Rajesh elaborated on GIS technologies and IoT implementation that can arrest the leakage and pilferage of water and help city administrators tackle water loss effectively. 

Dr Sunderrajan Krishnan, Executive Director, INREM Foundation and member of the Water Working Group spoke about successful interventions in shaping water quality in India and the technology that supports it. The sessions are available on the IET’s social media handles. 

“World Water Day is an opportunity for us to reiterate our commitment to revive, renew and optimise water resources. For technologists it is a massive opportunity to contribute to a country-level problem and scale their solutions. I congratulate the IET Water Working Group for pulling together these views, today”, said Dr Rishi Bhatnagar, Chair, IET Future Tech Panel.

Anitha Kaveri, Head of Sectors and Special Projects, IET India said, “Our Water Working Group has a strong representation from the ecosystem and the World Water Day virtual event was an opportunity for them to come together and look at water challenges and speak about how technology can help. We look forward to continuing our work with stakeholders to deliver on the charter”.

Dr Pradeep Srivastava, ED, TIFAC and Chair of the IET Water Working Group said, “The World Water Day 2021 brought our team of IET experts on water together.  The Water Working Group of IET Future Tech Panel emphasises the need to address water for all in required quantity and desired quality. With the support from the members of this group, we look forward to supporting the Jal Jeevan Mission and Har Ghar Jal initiatives of the Government of India. Let Technology play its pivotal role in enabling this.”