IIT Madras Launched AquaMAP For Water Usage in Agriculture

Vijay Raghavan, India's principal scientific advisor, inaugurated AquaMAP, a new water management and policy centre at IIT Madras, on Monday. AquaMAP will focus on enhancing agricultural water usage efficiency.

K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific adviser India, and V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras, inaugurated the AquaMAP Water Management and Policy Centre. Ligy Philip, faculty coordinator of AquaMAP, P Balasubramanian, CEO, Theme Work Analytics, and Krishnan Narayanan, president, itihaasa Research & Digital and IIT Madras alumni association was also present at the inaugural ceremony.

The Broad Theme: 'Data Science for Water Security and Agriculture Sustenance’

IIT Madras is partnering with IIT Dharwad on the broad theme of 'Data Science for Water Security and Agriculture Sustenance' at AquaMAP, a national water centre. "The world is dealing with the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss.

As a result, it is critical to renew our air, water, and land while also striving for sustainable growth. "Because agriculture uses the most water of all the demands, one of the key priorities of AquaMAP is to improve agricultural water use efficiency," Raghavan added.

Aim of AquaMAP

AquaMAP aims to provide solutions to complex and difficult water problems by designing and developing smart and optimal water management practices and incorporating them in the field, at various locations across the country, as a scalable model, utilizing best management practices and innovative technologies.

AquaMAP's key activities would include field (in villages and towns) application of water technology and management techniques, identifying big issues in water/wastewater management for targeted attention, and establishing a cutting-edge hydro-informatics laboratory.

Other tasks would include water and soil quality analysis through the development of a digital twin of the village for environmental management, waste management for a clean and healthy community, and autonomous control of rural water delivery networks.