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Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Wednesday announced financial support of Rs 3.29 crore to Kritsnam Technologies, a startup company incubated at IIT Kanpur to develop smart water management technologies.
Singh said the technology, initially focused on commercial users, can be a game changer in effectively monitoring and controlling groundwater exploitation across the country in the future. An MoU has been signed between Technology Development Board (TDB) under the Department of Science and Technology and Kritsnam Technologies Private Limited, Ranchi, Jharkhand, for production and commercialisation of Dhaara Smart Flow Meter. The agreement was signed in the presence of Jitendra Singh. The minister was apprised that the startup is developing 'Dhaara Smart Flowmeter' - an integrated system for online monitoring using two beam ultrasonic flowmeters that is designed to track the water distribution in real-time for applications such as drinking water supply, groundwater extraction, industrial water usage and precision irrigation, according to an official statement released by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The device collects data through sensors, stores it in the device, and transmits to the online cloud servers and thereafter the data transmitted to servers is analysed and displayed in the dashboard. This unique solution is a combination of hardware & software for flow measurement and water management respectively. Singh said Dhaara Smart Flow Meter will greatly benefit Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), a Rs 6,000 crore Central Sector Scheme, for sustainable management of groundwater resources with community participation. The scheme is being implemented in 80 water-stressed districts and 8,565 Gram Panchayats of seven States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh from 1 April 2020 for a period of five years. He said Dhaara Smart Flow Meter can also help bulk water consumers to budget their water usage and empower them to understand their patterns, points of inefficiencies and help them to build strong strategies for reducing water wastage. Dhaara Smart Flow Meter is battery operated and does not require external power and the hardware architecture is based on the internet of things (IoT) communication circuits which is patented in India. In addition, it complies with ISO and Central Ground Water Authority standards. The water usage data is automatically recorded in an online logbook through telemetry via 4G/2G. The built-in telemetry and battery-operated capabilities make it easy for users to monitor their water consumption virtually anywhere (even when the power is out). The product being developed initially aims at commercial users like hotels, hospitals, malls, IT parks, schools, colleges and industrial users (food products, packaged drinking water, pharmaceuticals, paper & pulp etc.). It may be recalled that the Central Groundwater Authority issued guidelines under which every commercial groundwater user must install a smart water meter and pay yearly bills. All the project proponents/users drawing groundwater and seeking/having NOC shall have to mandatorily install tamper-proof digital water flow meters with telemetry on all the ground water abstraction structures within their premises. Ground Water levels in various parts of the country are declining because of continuous withdrawal due to reasons such as increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increase in population, industrialization and urbanization etc. As per the assessment of Dynamic Ground Water Resources (2017) carried out by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in collaboration with States/UTs, out of the total 6,881 assessment units (Block/ Taluks/ Mandals/ watersheds/ Firkas) in the country, 1,186 units in 17 States/UTs have been categorized as 'over-exploited' where 'Annual Ground Water Extraction' is more than 'Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource'. (ANI)
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