India is groundwater civilization: Nilekani
PANAJI: Founder and chairperson of Arghyam, Rohini Nilekani, said at INK Conference that India is a groundwater civilization, wherein 80 percent agriculture’s water requirements are met through groundwater while government, over the years, has worked more for surface water.
Nilekani has set up Arghyam - a foundation, which works in the area of water and sanitation issues in India. Nilekani said, “We are working with the government to improve groundwater related policies in India.”
Nilekani also said that there are other sources of water in India such as springs and a number of communities depend upon them for their water needs, but they are left undocumented. Nilekani was speaking at ‘Green Arrow’ segment of the ongoing INK Conference, which focussed on environment related issues.
Shannon Olsen, a chemical ecologist, said, “India is home not only to 20 percent of the world’s population but also to 20 percent of world’s biodiversity. Therefore, what happens in India is of crucial significance to the whole world.”
Much of the issues discussed during the session like lack of water are likely to get aggravated as more people leave rural areas in India and head to cities. It was also informed that the world has just recently turned 50 percent urban.
Speaking in the context of how business and technology can help in addressing problems like these, Anil Menon, president of The Smart+Connected Communities (S+CC) Initiative, Cisco, said, “We need to re-think the way to make smart-cities. There are issues like huge digital divide and inequality of income, which need to be addressed.”
Menon said, “60% water is lost due to leaking pipes. There is a company in Israel which is monitoring this problem for several parts of the world from Israel. This means that technology can help us in addressing these problems.”
Talking more about inequality, Menon continued, “Using digital technology, kids in Africa can be educated in exactly the same way they are being educated in the US.”
