With a long-standing interest in the use of Science and Technology for effective monitoring and assessment of mountain ecosystems and services in the North Western Himalaya, the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), ISRO, Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), Indian Institute of Technology (IIR), Roorkee, National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Jammu University, and National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamipur signed MoUs under Earth Observation Application Mission (EOAM) of ISRO for funding hydrological studies in glaciated and non-glaciated watersheds of North-West Himalaya in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Memorandum of Understanding establishes the roles and duties of the collaborating agencies in achieving the goals and objectives of the national project "Monitoring and Assessment of Mountain Ecosystems and Services in the North-West Himalaya (Phase-II)."
The IUST was represented at the MoU signing ceremony by the Vice-Chancellor Prof Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, which was joined by the heads of all the participating institutes. During his remarks at the MoU signing event, Professor Romshoo expressed gratitude to ISRO for seeking IUST's participation in the national project and assured the partners that IUST will make a significant contribution to attaining the project's goals. He also stated that the project will contribute in the generation of knowledge on critical ecosystem services that would feed national policymaking and planning for judicious water resource management, climate change adaptation, and other relevant sectors in the Himalayas.
Dr. Prakash Chauhan, Director, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, who spearheaded the efforts for national cooperation under the project with partner institutes, stated that the cooperation will help to generate scientific knowledge on hydrological and other ecosystem services, as well as address emerging challenges in the optimal utilization and management of depleting Himalayan waters.