The Indian Institute of Technology - Madras (IIT-M) has launched a campaign, Jal Dhan, on the campus on Friday in the presence of Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The campaign was inaugurated during the national-level water conclave organised on the theme of sustainable agriculture with a focus on millet, water conservation and rainwater harvesting in industrial sectors.
Mr. Choubey said the government had been working to rejuvenate 75 waterbodies in each district in the country. Institute director V. Kamakoti said the conclave aimed to sensitise people to the changing climatic conditions in the world.
Balaji Narasimhan, professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, said the institute had started reusing and recycling water and Chennai city sought the institute’s expertise in reusing and recycling water. “There is a project where 260 million litres of sewage is being taken daily, treated and the water is being put back into the lakes, which are in turn treated and supplied to meet the water requirements of the city,” he said.
Mr. Narasimhan said the institute wanted to be carbon neutral by 2050. The campus was bicycle-friendly with good green cover. “We are proud to be a zero-discharge campus. We have a beautiful lake with 104 million litres capacity. We harvest as much of rainwater as possible.”
