The proposal sent to the Union Minister for Jal Shakti involves AI-based solutions for mapping artificial groundwater recharge structures
Green Sheen Environment Foundation (GSEF), a non-profit organisation that focuses on promising technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and sensors for a sustainable impact on the earth’s natural wealth and resources, has proposed to the government an ambitious rainwater harvesting plan along the national highways.
The proposal, which involves AI-based solutions for mapping artificial groundwater recharge structures, revitalising existing ponds and creating a database of all water bodies in the country by geo-tagging them, was submitted to Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Meanwhile, GSEF will be hosting a webinar on September 15, in collaboration with the National Water Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, on ’The Melting Peaks,’ which will focus on the use of AI and innovation for better understanding and predicting of glacial lake floods.
During the seminar, to be held next month, GSEF experts will speak about how they can offer AI-based solutions to overcome the challenges faced in the water sector. The keynote speaker will be G Asok Kumar, Additional Secretary & Mission Director, National Water Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti along with the profound team of GSEF.
“Our population has quadrupled while water extraction has increased six-fold. Twelve per cent of India’s population is already living the ’Day Zero’ scenario, thanks to excessive groundwater pumping, an inefficient and wasteful water management system and years of deficient rains,” says Chintan Mehta, Founder and Chairperson, Green Sheen Environment Foundation, and President of Chicago-based Scad Consultants.
Mehta said that GSEF’s Technology Lab, in collaboration with AI-based organisations like SCAD-AI, research-based organisations and academic programmes, will help to analyse data and introduce new approaches for stronger conservation efforts.
GSEF has proposed that rainwater harvesting structures (RHS) could be set up along India’s national highways, which stretch over thousands of kilometres across the length and breadth of the country.
Taken together, India’s national highways, state highways, major district roads and other roads add up to about 33,00,000 km. Of these, the national highways are about 67,000 km.
According to GSEF, by connecting the roadside channels, about 400,000 litres of water can be collected from one km of a four-lane highway in an hour where there is average rainfall. It involves diverting, filtering, storing and artificial recharge.
