The Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, one of the eight IITs established in 2008, is not just fostering technology education and research, but has also taken up the crucial role of protecting the Thar desert, the world’s 20th largest desert.
“We are committed to connecting to the local needs and ecosystems that are rich in art and craft, and more importantly the Thar ecosystem,” said Director Santanu Chaudhary.
The institute is situated at the gateway of the Thar desert, a water scarce and high temperature region. The location of IIT Jodhpur is distinct from that of IIT Bombay or IIT Madras, which are at the heart of industrial spaces. Therefore, this organic development of IIT Jodhpur has to be taken into account, Chaudhary told bloncampus.
“We are trying to use technology to solve problems that are unique to this place. This is the USP of IIT Jodhpur,” he added.
Chaudhary said IIT Jodhpur is the coordinating institution of Jodhpur City Knowledge and Innovation Cluster, a programme of the Principal Scientific Advisor’s office. The institute is connected with academic institutions in Jodhpur that are working in different areas under one umbrella. Their one great focus area is Thar, because as an ecosystem it is possibly the least explored among the deserts of the world.
Tech Toolkit for Thar
“We are trying to understand the Thar ecosystem through Thar DESIGNS — an acronym for Desert Ecosystem Innovations Guided by Natural Selection — with various kinds of adaptations that are also inspiration for new technologies. We have tried to understand the whole biota of the plant system in the desert. For example, we looked at the soil crusts, which has a unique ecosystem, that sustains plant growth,” he said.
The hot desert, with saline lake beds and natural ponds, has 682 species of flora belonging to 352 genera and 87 families. There are 755 invertebrate and 440 vertebrate species, including 140 birds and 41 mammals in this desert.
Thar Designs is a technology-enabled toolkit for restoring and unravelling designs from a desert ecosystem. This includes predictive models for changes in the ecosystem; protecting Thar from the effects of climate change; restoration of the Thar by precision intervention and conservation of flora and fauna that are endemic to the region. The project also includes genomic, phenomic and metagenomic landscaping, bioinspiration, digitisation and preservation of indigenous knowledge systems and creation of a Thar Knowledge Grid, explained the Director.
Conservation efforts
Conservation of the desert ecosystem is very important because its gene pool needs to be conserved, he emphasises. One of the key sustainability factor is the diversity of the gene pool. “Until and unless we can conserve the flora and fauna, that gene pool will be lost. Understanding this dynamics is extremely important,” he said.
The community is pastoral, and there is a need to understand the significance of their movement and its people with reference to the ecosystem. The institute is working with Rao Jodha Park in Jodhpur on rewilding. Since plants can have a ‘not-so-positive’ impact on the place, the native species of the desert have to be supported, he explained.
The institute recently signed an MoU with the Zoological Survey of India to focus on studying the fauna of the Thar eco-region. Through scientific exchange and data sharing, both institutions will contribute to research and conservation efforts of Thar’s faunal diversity, Chaudhary said.
This collaboration aims to enhance long-term conservation of genetic resources and foster scientific development in multi-disciplinary fields. Joint fieldwork expeditions, phenomics modelling for climate change and capacity-building workshops are among the planned activities, he added.
(The writer visited IIT Jodhpur on its invitation)