Why in news?

• The Information Technology (IT) Minister of Karnataka, launched India’s first ever digital water databank ‘AQVERIUM’ in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• AQVERIUM is an initiative of the Bengaluru-headquartered Digital Startup – AquaKraft Digital Ventures Pvt Ltd, a newly formed subsidiary of AquaKraft Projects Private Limited , the flagship company of AquaKraft Group Ventures.
• The Digital water data bank contains a list of water data from all institutions and sources, which will help in the effective management of water & will help to tackle some common development challenges.
• The bank also provides insights and evidence from research and reliable information for tackling water pollution.
• AquaKraft Group Ventures is offering a unique social franchising model to create ‘water entrepreneurs’ with an objective to make India ‘Water Positive’ by 2030.
• It has been predicted that 60% of districts in India are likely to reach the critical level of groundwater depletion over the next 20 years.
• Availability of water per person has fallen from 4,000 cubic meters in 1950 to around 1,000 cubic meters in 2019.