Water managers remain lukewarm to use of information communication technology

For mass use, any ICT tool has to offer a familiar interface and clear value proposition

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18 Dec 2012, 1:07 pm

Information communication technology (ICT) has long been touted as the ultimate force multiplier of development by speeding up data collection and analysis. Those working in the water sector have been tardy in using ICTs, but that is not for the want of technological options. There are dozens of packages that combine visual information with data and are great for decision making, monitoring and service delivery in water. Some duplicate each other while others occupy niches.

ICT tools have been around for several years, but most have remained confined to a few pockets. Neerjaal is one which originated from the Global Rainwater Harvesting Collective or the Barefoot College, Tilonia, Rajasthan. The idea is to have a web interface in English and Hindi to collect and display information. Its use is currently limited to the Silora block of Ajmer district and it has information on water quality and quantity. The idea has not expanded beyond this because of a lack of funds to support further development, says Neerjaal's developer Osama Manzar. He plans to make the system available on Android phone if he can raise the money for development. Field Level Operations Watch or FLOW offers more flexibility than Neerjaal since a user can develop a survey on the fly and geotag the information.

Some ICT tools in use

Neerjaal: it originated from the Global Rainwater Harvesting Collective or the Barefoot College, Tilonia, Rajasthan. Its use is currently limited to the Silora block of Ajmer district and it has information on water quality and quantity

Field Level Operations Watch (FLOW): offers more flexibility than Neerjaal; a user can develop a survey on the fly and geotag the information. This system collects, manages, analyses and displays geographically-referenced data in real time

Water Point Mapper: it was developed by WaterAid for its work in Africa. It generates maps of water points and their condition, based on Google Earth or other maps. It is meant to support planning and improve accountability

Water Evaluation and Planning system or WEAP: Developed by Stockholm Environment Institute's US Centre, it is a tool for integrated water resources planning

Watershed Management System: developed by the Geomatics Division of the National Informatics Centre at Bhopal, it uses both GIS and remote sensing to create a spatial database on soils, land use, contours, geology and drainage, using topographical maps from the Survey of India

Integrated Water Resource Information System (IWRIS): it is a data management tool for water resources data

The limitations