Bhubaneswar: The Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI) has signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the National Water Academy (NWA), Pune, ICAR–Indian Institute of Water Management (ICAR-IIWM), Bhubaneswar, and Odisha Construction Corporation Limited (OCCL), in a move aimed at strengthening water resources management in Odisha through technology, research, training and modern infrastructure.
The MoUs were signed at a programme held at the Conference Hall of the Department of Water Resources and chaired by Principal Secretary of the department Shubha Sharma.
The agreement with NWA, Pune, functioning under the Central Water Commission of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, will facilitate customised and joint training programmes, knowledge exchange and exposure to contemporary practices in water resources management. The collaboration is expected to provide WALMI access to national-level expertise, specialised training resources and established practices in the sector.
Chief Engineer Vaseem Ashraf signed the MoU on behalf of NWA.
The MoU with ICAR-IIWM seeks to strengthen the connection between research, technology and field-level applications, particularly in agricultural water management, water-use efficiency and climate-resilient irrigation. The collaboration will also focus on emerging technologies, including IoT- and sensor-based water management, precision irrigation and digital solutions.
Dr Arjamadutta Sarangi, Director, ICAR-IIWM, signed the agreement on behalf of the institute.
The third MoU, with OCCL, is aimed at upgrading WALMI’s infrastructure and developing it as a modern Centre of Excellence. The proposed works include modernisation of training and academic facilities, hostels, auditorium, conference hall and library, along with audio-visual-enabled classrooms, campus-wide Wi-Fi connectivity and construction of a new 100-seater hostel.
Among senior officials present at the programme were Engineer-in-Chief, Water Resources Dillip Kumar Rout; Engineer-in-Chief, S&M Bighnaraj Purohit; Engineer-in-Chief, Procurement Niranjan Rout; Engineer-in-Chief, IV Purnachandra Rath; Engineer-in-Chief, Inter States Abinash Roul; Director, WALMI Bajinath Hembram; and Additional Secretary Subrat Nayak.
Officials representing the collaborating institutions included NWA Director Chaitanya K. S., ICAR-IIWM Principal Scientist Dr Kalikinkar Bandyopadhyay and OCCL General Manager Sarat Chandra Ghadei.
