IIT Guwahati hosts Chair of 'Jal Jeevan Mission' for water treatment technology
Categories: US Education News
The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, has established the 'Chair of Jal Jeevan Mission' for Water Treatment Technology. The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019 from the ramparts of the Red Fort. It aims to enable every rural household to have a Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) by 2024.The institute has appointed Professor Mihir Kumar Purkait, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, as the first occupant of this Chair. The tenure of the Professor's Chair will be five years. PORTFOLIO OF PROFESSOR MIHIR KUMAR PURKAIT Professor Mihir Kumar Purkait has a portfolio of diverse innovations and developments in basic and applied research. He has credit for industrialising various technologies for up and downstream operation of water and wastewater treatment technologies, waste to wealth generation, separation of value-added product from a plant source, and electrochemical reduction of CO2 to various products. The Jal Jeevan Mission - Professor Chairs are established by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, National Jal Jeevan mission (NJJM), New Delhi, in reputed academic institutions to carry out high-quality empirical and applied research in the rural drinking water and sanitation sector. The objective is to address sectoral challenges and facilitate the achievement of 'Har Ghar Jal' and 'ODF Plus' in rural India. The JJM-Professor Chair will work in coordination with the State Water and Sanitation/ Rural Water Supply/ PHE Departments and the State and District Water and Sanitation Missions. It will focus on capacity building and maintaining a balance between capacity building, outreach, academic program, and educational activity, and research-in-focus areas of the institute. Professor Mihir Kumar Purkait has developed various water treatment technologies based on membrane technology, nanotechnology, adsorption, electrocoagulation/coagulation followed by flocculation-sedimentation-filtration for the treatment of contaminated drinking water and industrial wastewater as well.He has also developed and installed many water treatment plants in temples and schools and rural villages where piped water supply is not available as a project deliverable funded by DST, DRDO, DBT, and the Government of Assam.