Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nagpur Smart and Sustainable Development Corporation Limited (NSSCDCL) have installed first of its kind IoT-based ground water recharge system at a civic school.

Mayor Dayashankar Tiwari inaugurated the system at Sita Nagar school of civic body. Krishna Khopde, MLA, East Nagpur, also was present.

The rain water harvesting model is undertaken at two schools and is funded by European Commissioned under Urban Leds-II project and implemented in collaboration with ICLEI-South Asia.

NSSCDCL and ICLEI-SA teams undertook scientific investigations to identify possible groundwater recharge zones in the city, in light of increased water demand and the critical need to improve the region's groundwater table.

Two NMC-run schools, Saint Kabir School and Bharat Nagar School, were selected for the project to develop groundwater recharge through rainwater harvesting with a combined capacity of around 8 lakhs litres a year.

Buveneswari S, CEO NSSCDCL said that, the feature of remote monitoring of groundwater level and water quality utilising IoT is an innovative and unique part of the project. Critical parameters such as pH, TDS, electrical conductivity, and ground water level will be monitored in real-time to keep an eye on the entire system performance.

Based on the initial technical study and pilot projects, a city-wide detailed plan is being developed. NMC’s vision is to uptake ground water recharge projects across

the city, through rainwater harvesting, scientifically using appropriate designs and methodologies. While inaugurating the systems, Mayor praised the efforts taken by NMC and Nagpur Smart City, saying it is necessary to save water for the better tomorrow. NMC and Smart City will undertake other rain water harvesting projects to recharge the ground water for the future.

NMC also reusing and recycling the waste water and supplying to the power plant.

Lakadganj Zone Chairperson Manisha Atkare, former Standing Committee Chairman Pradeep Pohane, corporator Rajkumar Sahu, Deepak Wadibhasme were present. Dr Pranita Umredkar, In-charge General Manager, Environment Division, NSSCDCL, underscored importance of rainwater harvesting and the site selection process in her introductory remarks. Shardul Venegurkar, Assistant Manager, ICLEI-SA, demonstrated the system.

The inauguration and demo were attended by Education Officer Priti Mishrikotkar, NSSCDCL CFO Neha Jha, CFO , Rajesh Dufare, GM Mobility, Rahul Pande, Chief Planner, Dr Sheel Ghule, GM e-Governance and Dr Parag Armal.