: IIT Startup Wins Rs 3 Crore Funding for Game-Changing Device in Groundwater Management #IndiaNEWS #Innovation To adequately manage groundwater, on 25 December 2019, PM Modi launched the Atal Bhujal

IIT Startup Wins Rs 3 Crore Funding for Game-Changing Device in Groundwater Management #IndiaNEWS #Innovation
To adequately manage groundwater, on 25 December 2019, PM Modi launched the Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), which the World Band describes as “the world’s largest community-led groundwater management programme�?.

To support Atal Jal, the Technology Development Board (TDB), under the Department of Science and Technology, has offered Rs 3. 29 crore in funding to Kritsnam Technologies Private Limited.

The startup’s product Dhaara Smart Flowmeter will track water distribution across uses like drinking water, groundwater extraction, industrial water use, and irrigation. The device is ISO certified and CGWA (Central Ground Water Authority) compliant, and automatically records water data usage using an online logbook, eliminating manual data errors.

“We give [customers] a lot of insights like the number of hours the pump was running, the flow rate fluctuation in that time, and more,�? says 30-year-old Vinay Chataraju, co-founder of Kritsnam.

Dhaara gives customers various insights for better water management. Photo courtesy Vinay.

“Dhaara Smart Flow Metre can also help bulk water consumers 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,�? said Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh.

The urgency of India’s water crisis is laid out in the NITI Aayog’s 2019 report Composite Water Management Index (CWMI), which states that while India is home to 17 per cent of the world’s population, it only has 4 per cent of the world’s freshwater resources.

Around two lakh people die every year because of inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene, it adds.

While Atal Jal is working toward better water management, the CWMI also states that one of the biggest challenges in India’s water crisis is “the lack of water data�?. If a country is to offer reasonable solutions, it must first fully understand the problem it is facing. But limited and unreliable data about India’s water use is the main hindrance the country faces today.

Kritsnam identified this issue and went to the field to investigate. “We found that most of the instruments are there in the fields, but very few of them are active and running,�? says Vinay.

Since these devices are installed in open spaces and round the clock security isn’t available, issues like vandalism and theft had rendered these devices nonfunctional. “That’s when we realise the need for a low cost, compact instrument which can get deployed in very large numbers across the country to collect water data,�? he adds.