India and Israel have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of water management and development. Desalination is one of the key areas of collaboration. This was stated by the Minister of State for Water Resources Sanjeev Balyan said in a written reply to the lok Sabha on Thursday.
Balyan said this while responding a query whether the Government plans to expand and incentivise use of desalination technologies to meet growing water needs. The MoU was signed on November 11.
Israel being pioneers in smart water technology is no longer dependent on nature to get water. More than 50 per cent of water in Israel comes from desalination and water recycling. The cooperation will also help the countries strengthen the techniques in efficient use of water and micro-irrigation. It would also help recycle and re-use wastewater, aquifer recharge, desalination and in-situ water conservation techniques. Apart from this a number of other Ministries are working on the issue, he said.
The Minister told the lower House that the Department of Science and Technology (DST) also worked on demonstration plants based on indigenously developed reverse osmosis technology for desalination of brackish sea water.
The DST has also supported solar bio-mass hybrid multi-effect distillation, thermal desalination system at Naripayyur in Ramanathpuram district of Tamil Nadu, said the Minister.
Apart from this, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has also envisaged the installation of desalination plants where availability of surface and ground water is a problem or has hazardous substances like arsenic and fluoride.