IIT Kanpur to develop land and water restoration plan for Angul, Odisha

IIT Kanpur has signed an MOU with District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT) and is set to develop a land and water restoration plan for Angul, Odisha.

IIT Kanpur will work to help Odisha’s Angul district in developing a land and water restoration plan. An MoU in this regard was signed recently between IIT Kanpur and the District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT) Angul to initiate a large project to develop land and water restoration plan for Angul, Odisha.

The MOU signing was a part of a larger event on Circular Economy that was attended by a number of industry representatives and state officials. Under this MoU, IIT Kanpur will leverage the institute’s infrastructure and technology expertise to assist the Angul district in restoring the land and water resources affected by mining.

The Angul district is enriched with several valuable minerals including coal, Kyanite, graphite, fireclay, china clay, and precious and semi-precious stones and is known as ‘Black Diamond of Odisha State’.

However, a rapid expansion of the mining operations in the region has led to loss of rich biodiversity and soil fertility, degradation of water bodies -- quantity as well as quality and piling up of hazardous waste and drainage issues.

This project, led by Professor Rajiv Sinha from the Department of Earth Sciences, will use all modern technologies to develop solutions for land and water resource restoration for sustainable development of the district, primarily in the context of circular economy.

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur said, “The Angul District in Odisha is a very resource-rich region which needs some assistance in restoration of its land and water resources.”

“This project is expected to contribute significantly towards the development of a policy document for land use, water budget and utilization plan for the Angul district based on demand and supply management, and also to contribute towards the circular economy of the region,” he said.