IIT Roorkee inaugurates 9th International Groundwater Conference 2022

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee’s Department of Hydrology inaugurated the 9th International Groundwater Conference-2022 (IGWC-2022). The event is being hosted by IIT Roorkee from November 2 to November 4, 2022, at MAC Auditorium at the institute. The IGWC - 2022 focuses on the theme of effective management of (sub) - surface water resources in arid and semi-arid regions.

Over 300 delegates coming from 12 countries participated in the inauguration event. The opening of the international conference was chaired by Professor K K Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee and Professor S M Hassanizadeh, Hydrogeology Department, Utrecht University graced the event as the guest honour.

Professor Brijesh K Yadav, Head Department of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee was the convener for the mega event and Professor C Mayilswami, President of the Association of Global Groundwater Scientists (AGGS) welcomed all the dignitaries and shared a collective vision for instilling human resources for sustainable growth of groundwater and its allied areas through knowledge sharing, logical thinking, and qualitative and quantitative analysis.

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Apart from AGGS, institutions like the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Roorkee Industries contributed to the conference.

The Conference was divided into 23 parallel technical sessions chaired by faculty members of IIT Roorkee and representatives of various institutions. The plenary speakers, session chairpersons and keynote speakers shared their expert knowledge across a wide range of groundwater areas covering water resources assessment/quantification, site characterization, abstraction and monitoring; micro plastics in soil-water, etc.

Besides technical sessions, a two-day pre-conference training on groundwater modeling was organized during October 31 to November 1, 2022 in collaboration with the DHI. A group of 50 participants from different parts of the country attended the training.

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The event also hosted cultural activities, like popular folk dances of Kumaon region like Bagwal, Ghasiyari, Chapeli; Kaalbelia of Rajasthan region and Bihu of Assam region along with a variety of folk songs followed by conference dinner.

Addressing the conference, Pant highlighted,"Such brain-storming session on water resources in arid and semi-arid regions with in-depth analysis is unparallel to a general technical session on subsurface water and aquifer management. Exchanging these ideas on the latest research & developments will provide an opportunity to a never-ending string of scientists, researchers, students, and engineers."