The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur (IIT-K) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to implement an advanced water quality monitoring system for the city. The agreement was announced in the presence of Special Principal Secretary Municipal Administration and Urban Development Jayesh Ranjan.
The project will begin in the third quarter of this year for what is being touted as a “next-generation water monitoring and early warning system” using artificial intelligence, real-time environmental monitoring and advanced scientific research.
Unlike conventional water testing methods that rely on laboratory workflows and evaluate only a limited set of known parameters, the proposed platform will use non-thermal plasma spectroscopy and AI to analyze the complete optical signature of water samples to detect heavy metals, industrial chemicals, microbial indicators and emerging pollutants at the parts per billion level.
During the 12-month pilot phase, the program is expected to analyze more than 25,000 water samples in the Hyderabad metropolitan area, generating approximately 1.9 million individual data points covering chemical, elemental and microbiological parameters. Operational coordination will be provided by Metropolitan Surveillance Unit, Hyderabad working with GHMC officials.
The School of Water Resources at IIT Kharagpur will lead the science and remediation strategy, drawing on institutional expertise in hydrology, contaminant modeling and urban water systems. “We look forward to contributing scientific rigor, research leadership and practical solutions to this critical challenge,” said .Suman Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur.
Mr. Ranjan said, “We are excited to collaborate with some of India’s best scientific institutions and innovators to create a water security and environmental intelligence model that can ultimately benefit not just Telangana, but people across India and the world.” If the pilot project is successful, the Telangana government intends to extend the framework to the entire state.
Published – 14 May 2026 19:39 IST
