New Delhi (NVI): As a part of joint collaboration, India and Netherlands launched the second phase of the LOTUS-HR (Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse plant) programme on October 14, for cleaning up 10,000 litres of sewage water per day in the Barapullah drain.
The programme was jointly commenced by the Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima in the presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan during their visit to the Indo-Dutch water laboratory at the Barapullah drain in Delhi.
The Indo-Dutch collaboration aims to pave new ways to create techno entrepreneurship and encourage a sustainable business model to convert sewage water into clean water for healthy re-use.
Announcing the scaling up of LOTUS-HR for treatment of sewage water, Vardhan said, “Today, we are going to enter into the second phase, wherein 10 thousand L sewage water will be treated per day.”
He further added, “Dutch and Indian companies are contributing to the project by sharing their existing technologies and will showcase how one can treat urban wastewater into clean water for various purposes. We are also in the process of emulating this in other projects across the country.”
The LOTUS-HR project is cooperatively supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology and Netherlands organisation for Scientific Research and STW.
In July 2017, this project was implemented to demonstrate a novel holistic (waste) water management approach that will produce clean water which can be reused for various purposes. The innovative pilot-scale modular plant upon commissioning will treat 10,000 L sewage water per day and will showcase a self-sustaining model for the end-user.
The pilot-scale facility will employ multiple technologies so that the data generated at the pilot-scale becomes a tool-box of treatment technologies for replication at other sites in Delhi as well as other parts of India where similar drains exist.
“During the visit to the water laboratory, Netherlands Majesties informed about the collaboration in the area of water technology and witnessed project demonstrations by the involved researchers. They also appreciated the numerous initiatives in this regard,” said the statement.
They showcased innovations under the Wetlab a Design challenge, jointly supported by DBT-BIRAC and Netherlands Enterprise Agency that provides a unique learning and networking platform for both Indian and Dutch young professionals and allows students to think differently for innovative ideas to solve India’s urban water challenges and contribute to cleaning up India’s rivers.
The event was also attended by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Principal Scientific Advisor to GoI, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology, VijayRaghavan and other dignitaries.
–PS
