IIT Guwahati to collaborate with Brahmaputra Board to restore River Banks
A partnership of experimental and computational study along with promoting academic visits of students and officials for mutual benefits of the Institutes.
GUWAHATI : Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and Brahmaputra Board is going to collaborate to address river related issues and also how to utilize rivers more efficiently for people’s benefit. The collaboration will help to evolve with innovative technology which will help for better management of river like Brahmaputra. It is a partnership of experimental and computational study along with promoting academic visits of students and officials for the mutual benefit of stakeholders.
A MoU on this collaboration was signed by Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati and Mr. Rajiv Yadav, IAS (RTD), Chairman, Brahmaputra Board. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Prof. A S Achal Kumar, Dean (Outreach Education Programme) IIT Guwahati, Prof. Arup Kumar Sarma, IIT Guwahati and Mr. Ranjit Deka, Director, NEHARI were also present.
Highlighting the unique aspects of this collaboration, Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati said, “Management of a complex river like Brahmaputra is possible only through collaborative approach of academia and Industry, and this is a step towards this”.
A MoU between IIT Guwahati and North Eastern Hydraulic and Allied Institute (NEHARI) will create a synergy in the field of research and allied activities relating to basin, flood and river bank management. IIT Guwahati being a premier institute of technology with active faculty and research scholars, it will be a fruitful collaboration in the areas of hydrological model of study and research.
Mr. Rajiv Yadav, IAS (RTD), Chairman, Brahmaputra Board, highlighted, “North Eastern Hydraulic and Allied Institute (NEHARI) under Brahmaputra Board after renovation of its laboratories and establishment of updated hydrological laboratories on model studies, spanning over an area of about 44-hectare land is now only the second laboratory of the country after Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune.”
Prof. Arup Kumar Sarma, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Guwahati, said, “IIT Guwahati has a world class computation capability to carryout mathematical model study of complex river to evaluate impacts of various potential management measures and hence to provide most optimal solution, Brahmaputra Board has field experience and a world class experimental facility”.
He further added, Recently IIT Guwahati has developed its indigenous river model BRAHMA (Braided River Aid: Hydro-Morphological Analyzer) through a collaborative project with Brahmaputra Board and this MoU will facilitate its speedy field implementation”.
The Brahmaputra Board was constituted in 1980 by an Act of Parliament Brahmaputra Board Act, 1980 (No. 46 of 1980) under List 56 of Schedule 7 of article 246 of the Constitution of India. North Eastern Hydraulic and Allied Research Institute (NEHARI) is an institute with facilities in the field of hydraulic model studies and construction materials testing related to river valley projects. It was recently renovated and inaugurated by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti on 14th January, 2021. The Chairman, Brahmaputra Board and the Director Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati had a discussion and both the Institutes agreed to undergo on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation between the two Institutes.