Art of Living to set up water research institute in Odisha

Aimed at combining the ancient knowledge of water harvesting with the latest technology, a water research institute will be established in Odisha by the Art of Living, the organisation's founder Sri Sri Ravishankar has said.

At the India Water Summit 2016 held in the Silicon Valley on Tuesday, Ravishankar said his organisation will also be taking up rejuvenation of 25 rivers in the next few months.

This is in addition to 19 rivers already being undertaken by the Art of Living, he said.

Inaugurating the conference organised by the Overseas Volunteers for a Better India with support from TiE charter members, Ravishankar said the fully-dedicated water research institute will be established in Odisha to combine the ancient knowledge of water harvesting with the latest state-of-the-art technology.

The water summit brought together policymakers, scientists, geologists, entrepreneurs and technocrats from across the US, who shared the best practices and technology solutions to implement sustainable holistic strategies for solving India's water crisis.

Venktesh Shukla Chair, TiE Global along with other TiE charter members attended the conference and pledged to give their support by motivating their friends in the charter member community worldwide to join the cause.

The Indian Consul General at San Francisco Consulate Venkatesan Ashok called upon the NRI community to join hands and support the "impactful noble initiative".

Bill Croyle, Deputy Director for Statewide Emergency Preparedness and Security at the California Department of Water Resources underscored that for the effective policy implementation it is very critical to measure and study the statistical usage of water.

He stressed the need of inter-disciplinary collaboration amongst various agencies namely agriculture, water, forest afforestation to create effective water management policies.