MIT honors rainwater system inventor

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 28 (UPI) -- B.P. Agrawal of Sustainable Innovations Corp. Wednesday won the Lemelson-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Award for Sustainability.

The $100,000 award honors Agrawal's invention of technology that improves access to clean water, healthcare and business development in rural India.

"Agrawal's creation of a community-driven rainwater harvesting system and mobile health clinics (has) the potential to improve the global public health system and better the quality of life for villagers in rural India," Lemelson-MIT officials said in a statement.

Agrawal's Aakash Ganga (River from the Sky) rainwater harvesting system is currently installed in six drought-prone villages in Rajasthan, the driest state in India.

"The AG system rents rooftops from homeowners and channels the rooftop rainwater through gutters and pipes to a network of underground storage reservoirs," officials said. "This network of reservoirs is designed to provide 10-12 liters of water daily to every person in an entire village for a year; to date, it has helped 10,000 villagers gain access to clean water."

Agrawal is also being recognized for creation of kiosk-based health clinics run by high school educated young women and designed to alleviate the shortage of trained medical staff and improve standardized treatment protocols for common ailments and preventable diseases in India.

He is to accept the award during a June ceremony at the Lemelson-MIT program's fourth annual EurekaFest at the university.