Talk on ‘Groundwater Security for Future India’ organized at Dibrugarh University

A CORRESPONDENT

DIBRUGARH: The Department of Applied Geology, Dibrugarh University, organized an invited talk on “Groundwater Security for Future India” by Prof Abhijit Mukherjee to commemorate 60 years of Dibrugarh University on Tuesday at Indira Miri Conference Hall, Dibrugarh University.

The event commenced with a welcome address by Prof Tapos Kumar Goswami, Head of the Department of Applied Geology. Prof. Goswami highlighted the significance of the topic in the context of pressing environmental concerns.

The event was inaugurated by Prof Subrata Borgohain Gogoi, Dean, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Energy, who spoke on the importance of interdisciplinary knowledge sharing to address complex environmental issues such as groundwater depletion and management.

The guest speaker, Prof Abhijit Mukherjee, a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award 2020 and the National Geoscience Award 2014, is a leading researcher and a distinguished professor of hydrogeology at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

In his popular talk, Prof. Mukherjee gave a broad overview of the emerging issue of groundwater security, its challenges and sustainable management for future India. He started his talk by giving a historical perspective on the use of groundwater in ancient India and then stressed its importance to South Asia, the world’s largest user of groundwater, highlighting the current critical issues like scarcity, over-extraction, and contamination.

He very specifically linked how large-scale geological processes influence health and well-being in our day-to-day lives. He also emphasized that scientific research must directly benefit society, ensuring that academic work must help people in real-life scenarios. Using detailed maps and data prepared with his students, he revealed alarming trends in groundwater depletion and pollution across states like Punjab, Haryana, and Eastern states of the country, especially Assam.

At the end, he showed how government efforts, specifically the MGNREGA scheme, have led to the rejuvenation of India’s groundwater resources, emphasizing the need for robust scientific policy interventions for India’s groundwater security.

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