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Aakash Ganga Wins DST Grant
Saturday, October 29, 2011 (0 Comments)
Posted by: Rama Mishra (rama.mishra022@gmail.com) & Sukanya V
Sustainable Innovations (www.si-usa.org), USA, and Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani were awarded a grant of Rs 60, 00,000 by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, to demonstrate Aakash Ganga’s social enterprise model along with its holistic sustainability and innovations. AG is a domestic rainwater harvesting system that alleviates the perennial scarcity of drinking water in the rural villages. Aakash Ganga’s social enterprise model couples “social business” of Noble Laureate Muhammad Yunus and cultural sustainability of Gandhi. It evolved over several years through incubation and pilot in six villages which are in close proximity to BITS Pilani campus.
Under the DST grant, BITS has set up an innovation hub led by Prof. Rajiv Gupta, Dean of Engineering Services Division. The other members are: Prof. Yashvardhan Sharma, Prof. Raaj Ramsankaran, Sourabh Bhati, Saurabh Bulchandani, Sumit Kumar, & Ayush Agrawal. Prof. Yashvardhan Sharma is designing IT network to monitor water quality and utilization; Prof. Raaj Ramsankaran is automating Aakash Ganga network design; Saurabh Bhati is developing indigenous drip irrigation system; Sumit is employing Google Earth imaginatively; Saurabh Bulchandani –is inventing data visualization system; and Ayush ...
Engineering Social Change
A Visionary social entrepreneur, Dr. B P Agrawal combines business insight with pioneering technologies and was chosen for the award for his community driven rainwater harvesting system and mobile health clinics that "have the potential to improve the global health system and better the quality of life of villagers."....
To read the complete article published in MARWAR India, click here.
Water in My Father’s Land
A Story by Nilam Agrawal:
We are in Sardarpura, a sleepy village 150 KM southwest of New Delhi, India. Women have gathered at village square. They are tapping empty matka, earthen water pot, to produce melodious beats. One is humming the lament of bride, "Dhola thare desh men, moti marvan aant. Daroo milti mokali, paani ki koni chhant."
Oh, Beloved!
In your land
Not a drop of water
Brides have to fetch water from miles
It is hard to survive but for your love
Thus laments a bride.
The melody is drowned by sudden commotion. The children start running on dusty streets yelling “Pani Aagayaa. Paani Aagayaa” (Water has come! Water has come!). Women wrapped in vibrant colors rush with their matkas, large clay pots, resting on their waists - only to join the queue of matkas that arrived before them. The water tanker had just arrived. It only took two weeks.
I set up my film gear to begin shooting. Immediately, I am flocked by women with their pleas for water. I ask my father, Dr. BP Agrawal, to translate my questions into Marwari – the regional dialect, “How scarce is water here?” I ask. A voice speaks from the crowd “Why ask? Just count the number of ...
Children Rushing Home!
A Personal Story
It is midday. The Sun is blindingly bright. Temperature is hovering over 100o F. A little girl in blue skirt is running away from the school, leaving her footprints in the sand. Is she skipping the classes? Did she leave her homework at home? Or, is she tending someone sick?
Unable to resist my nosiness, I enter the school grounds – a row of classrooms and nothing else. Not even a water fountain. I hurry up to the Headmaster’s room, which is spartanly furnished. The desk with its scratches resembles an elderly face full of wrinkles. Therefore, deserves respect. (Age commands respect. Pretend to be bit older than your age if you yearn to be heard!) The headmaster, with unabashed surprise, greets me with inquisitive eyes. I forget to introduced myself and blurt out “why was that girl running away from the school?”
Just to get a drink of water, responded the Headmaster. “What? Say, it one more time!” Please have a seat, the Headmaster nudged me softly. I plunk myself in the chair. The Headmaster, Mr. Kamruddin, is a soft spoken man in his early forties. In calming voice he explains: The school does not have sweet water. The girl ...
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Aakash Ganga Wins DST Grant
Saturday, October 29, 2011 (0 Comments) Posted by: Rama Mishra (rama.mishra022@gmail.com) & Sukanya V Sustainable Innovations (www.si-usa.org), USA, and Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani were awarded a grant ... -
Engineering Social Change
A Visionary social entrepreneur, Dr. B P Agrawal combines business insight with pioneering technologies and was chosen for the award for his community driven rainwater harvesting system and mobile health clinics ...