Tech varsity will help in development of water reservoirs, ponds in Haryana, says VC

Professor Shree Prakash Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology (DCRUST), said the university would coordinate with Haryana Pond Authority in uplifting of the state’s water reservoirs and ponds, their conservation, planning and related development works.

It was decided at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Singh in which Prabhakar Kumar Verma, Principal Adviser to the Haryana pond authority, and heads of civil engineering department, architecture department, and environment department of the university were present. A framework for the project was prepared at the meeting.

Singh said in the first phase of the project, students and teachers of several departments would carry out the survey of all such villages where reservoir works had been completed or ongoing.

The purpose of the survey was to get the feedback and assess the development works done there and an overall reports would be sent to the authority and the state government, he said. The second agenda discussed at the meeting was the university should prepare a team of teachers and experts, who can give a third party quality assurance of the ongoing reservoir renovation work.

It was also discussed at the meeting that a reservoir renovation centre of excellence should be developed on the university campus, which could conduct research in the development work of water reservoirs and give advice to the state authority.

Verma said out of the total 1,871 ponds registered on the portal 11,022 were polluted. The authority has included 6,542 ponds in the annual action plan 2025-26 including 311 of Sonepat district. The work on 29 ponds had been completed so far while work on five ponds was underway, he said. Planning was being done for other ponds, Verma added.

The Vice-Chancellor directed the civil engineering, architecture department and environment department to carry out the work in a systematic manner. Professor Vijay Kumar Sharma, university coordinator to the authority, said the university was already providing services in the development work of the ponds in Sonepat district. Professor Ravi Vaish, head of the architecture department, will prepare a comprehensive plan for the survey work to be done by the students.