The Water Institute is pleased to host a seminar by Dr. Vikram Soni. Dr. Soni is a Professor and UGC Emeritus Fellow, Centre for Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
Dr.
Soni's
seminar
is
titled:
Towards
Self-Sustaining,
Natural
Cities:
Floodplain
Recharge
and
Subterranean
Mineral
Water
in
India.
Abstract
The speaker argues that cities should be able to manage themselves and be self-sustaining. The talk focuses on new approaches to increasing and sustaining the water supply of New Delhi and other river cities in India, including:
Floodplain Water: The use of local river floodplain subterranean aquifers, which have natural storage and are naturally recharged from monsoon rain each year, offer a regulated, perennial and sustainable supply of large scale water to the inhabitants of a city. Hydrological research quantified the allowed ecological yields; for example, on average, a water supply for up to 3 million people (250 million cubic meters /year) is possible for a city on the river floodplains. This scheme could provide drinking water for a million people in Delhi and the contract has already been awarded by the Delhi Jal (Water) Board.
Subterranean Mineral Water: The use of local forested subterranean aquifers, which are naturally recharged from monsoon rain each year, could supply a regulated, perennial and sustainable supply of large scale mineral water to the inhabitants of the city. A blueprint for natural cities that will be self-sustaining in water will be discussed.
About the Speaker
Dr. Vikram Soni is Professor and UGC Emeritus Fellow at the Centre for Theoretical Physics in New Delhi, India. Dr. Soni obtained a PhD from the University of California at Santa Barbara and is a theoretical physicist specializing in astrophysics. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo.
In addition to physics, Dr. Soni is an environmental activist and, in 1995, established Natural Heritage, a leading Indian environmental NGO. Dr. Soni recently published his new book Naturally, Tread Softly on the Planet which describes human interventions in the matrix of life on earth. The book argues for natural wisdom and symbiotic relationships between humans and natural systems, and identifies enlightened solutions that build into natural cycles, and that are not injurious to the planet.