State plan to manage water resources data

State plan to manage water resources data 

• Bhubaneswar: The government has initiated the process to set up a State Water Informatics Centre (SWIC), a body dedicated to handle and monitor water resources data from flood water, groundwater, surface water and rainwater among others.

• The SWIC will be formed in line with the National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) of the Union ministry of Jal Shakti and work in coordination with the central body for monitoring water resources to ensure their quality and optimum usage.

• Once formed, the SWIC will help in formulating policies for management of water resources in the state. The body will also help develop a decision support system for better management and decision making with respect to water resources in annite- SWIC. rated manner.

• The department of water resources of the state government has been tasked to form the body. The officials said that departments and organizations dealing with water will nominate a representative, who will remain the domain expert in the SWIC.

• Accordingly, representatives have been invited from the department of planning and convergence, agriculture and farmers' empowerment, rural development, panchayat raj and drinking water and Odisha state pollution control board to be part of the SWIC.

• In a letter to the line departments and organizations, the water resources department's additional secretary Anil Kumar Pattanaik has requested them to nominate a representative from the respective department for the SWIC.

• "State Water Informatics Centre will be set up to act as a dedicated organization for coordination, collection and dissemination of the water resources data of the state with the support and guidance from the National Water Informatics Centre," Patnaik mentioned.

• He stated that the SWIC will include a domain expert from each stakeholder departments that is dealing with water and sharing of data thereof. "Being a stakeholder department in this matter, your considered views are required," the additional secretary wrote to the line departments.