IIT Jodhpur launches initiative to conserve, restore Thar desert

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of technology (IIT) Jodhpur with the support of Jodhpur City Knowledge and Innovation Cluster has launched a project to restore the Thar desert. The ‘Thar Desert Ecosystem Sciences Guided by Nature and Selection (DESIGNS)’ is meant to conserve the minerals, medicines, flora and fauna of Thar desert by “combining the ecosystem phenomics and framework of medical, engineering, environmental and life sciences”, according to an IIT Jodhpur statement.

According to a statement by IIT Jodhpur, to address problems arising for the loss of the natural desert that stabilises the climate of the region, Jodhpur City Knowledge and Innovation Cluster, (JCLIC), set up by the principal scientific adviser, Government of India, has brought together organizations from the engineering, space research, medicine, agriculture, zoology and forestry.

Mitali Mukerji, professor and head, department of bioscience and bioengineering of IIT Jodhpur said, “Thar DESIGNS aims to disseminate knowledge and encourage participation through a citizen science approach and inculcate design thinking across the entire collaborative network.”

“Under this initiative, the researchers will use IOT enabled devices and Big Data analytics framework to crowd source observations from the local ecosystem to the regional level keeping the cultural context and traditional medicine knowledge in perspective”, the IIT statement said.

This, they hope, will lead to the establishment of a “Desert Eco Knowledge System” for further research, development and commercialization.

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