Aligarh Muslim University:Jal Shakti Abhiyan at Department of Physics
Aligarh: We hear about the importance of harvesting rainwater, but when it comes to implementation, efforts fall short. But, this is not the case at the Department of Physics, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) where a team constituted to devise a solution has come up with an innovative idea.
This team has put forth a proposal to install a rainwater harvesting system designed to collect water from the rooftop of the Department building. The proposal was forwarded to the concerned university authorities after much research and surveys.
“The rainwater harvesting system will be installed as soon as the funds are released,” said Prof B P Singh, Chairman, Department of Physics.
He announced this during the Department webinar on ‘Water Conservation, Roof Top Rain Water Harvesting’, a part of the nation-wide Government campaign, ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain Campaign’.
In the webinar, Prof Sumit Sen (Department of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee) delivered a public talk on ‘Prioritization of Land Parcels for Capturing Rainwater: Two Case Studies of Contrasting Biogeographic Regions’.
He pointed out that India has a growing urban footprint in the Himalayas and the Deccan plateau with contrasting biophysical and socio-economic characteristics and that ways to tackle the water stress in these areas with the necessary water conservation practices including rainwater harvesting.
“By way of case study, two approaches to prioritization of land for targeting water conservation interventions have been demonstrated. In the first case study of Sholapur, watershed runoff assessment was used to identify the potential of surface storage and possible aquifer recharge from the surface runoff as well as roof water harvesting. While in the second case of Nainital, water vulnerability assessment was used to prioritize administrative wards for implementing various water conservation initiatives,” said Prof Sumit.
Prof Qazi Mazhar Ali (Dean, Faculty of Science) emphasized the need of optimization of water resources by giving examples of western countries.
Prof Qazi chaired the session. Dr Jai Prakash extended the vote of thanks.