Water conclave begins at IIT Roorkee

A conclave on hydrological aspects of climate change began at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on Wednesday.

Roorkee Water Conclave 2020, a three-day event being attended by experts from several countries like the USA, Spain, Germany, Japan, Netherlands and the UK, is being organised by IIT-R in collaboration with the National Institute of Hydrology.

Addressing the gathering as the chief guest, Central Water Commission Chairman RK Jain, laid emphasis on formulating new mechanisms to address the impact of global warming on water resources.

"The planning and projections of the past have failed miserably. We need to formulate new mechanisms to address the challenges that lie ahead in the wake of the impact of global warming on our water resources," he said.

India has about four per cent of the world's freshwater resources despite having only 2.4% land area making it a better a placed country on the global average. However, due to high population, temporal and excessive variability we are facing very high stress, Jain said.

Visiting professor, IIT-R, V P Singh, who was the guest of honour, congratulated the organisers of the event saying "it will go a long way in contributing to and sustaining the rich culture of excellence for which Roorkee has come to be known worldwide."