Conference on sustainable smart water management from Nov 13

Kolkata: The Indian Plumbing Association will be bringing in together key stakeholders from India’s water, infrastructure and construction sectors to address one of the most critical challenges of our time—Sustainable Smart Water Management at the 31st Indian Plumbing Conference (31st IPC) that will be held from November 13 to 15 at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan. The conference will focus on innovative and actionable approaches to tackle India’s escalating water stress, particularly in the context of rapid urbanisation and infrastructure expansion.

The IPC, which is coming back to Kolkata after 9 years, will be inaugurated by Firhad Hakim, state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister.

As of January, 2025, over 17.59 billion square feet of built-up area was under development across more than 55,000 projects, highlighting the growing demand for water in urban environments. The built environment alone—accounting for approximately 10 per cent of India’s total water consumption— has been projected to see a demand rise by 50 per cent by 2030. This makes smart water management integrating technology, design and behaviour change not just essential, but urgent.

The conference will deliberate on topics such as real-time water monitoring through AI and IoT, innovations in wastewater treatment and water circularity, road to water-neutral buildings and plumbing design challenges in high-rise structures. The main emphasis of the deliberations would relate to “sustainable smart water management”, on the theme of the conference, to achieve the objectives of India’s Jal Jeevan Mission and AMRUT 2.0, ensuring long-term water security, enhancing urban resilience and contributing meaningfully to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well.