New Delhi, Feb 26: The Waste to Wealth Mission of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser and the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) launched a pilot technology on Friday to clean the Gaunchi drain at Faridabad’s Sanjay Colony, a statement said. The Gaunchi drain is a key arterial drainage system in Faridabad. It is amongst the 11 most-polluted drains of Haryana that together release 1,002 million litres of polluted water in the Yamuna every day.

“Cleaning the drain will go a long way in reducing the waste burden in the river,” a statement by the PSA’s office said. The project has deployed a RISE (Research Initiative For Scientific Enhancement) machine from DESMI EnviRo-CLEAN A/S, a Danish company that specialises in cleaning water bodies.

The machine will collect and remove up to 300 kilograms of floating waste and debris from the drain daily. The Waste to Wealth Mission and the MCF will jointly monitor and operate the machine and build the evidence to scale up such projects in other water bodies across the country. The project will also explore technologies to treat and utilise the waste removed from the drain.

Announcing the project, Principal Scientific Adviser K VijayRaghavan said, “The Prime Minister strongly advocates local technological approaches that are supported by global science. To solve the country’s waste challenges, there is a need for applying innovative technologies that are customised to Indian conditions.” Efforts towards making India free of plastic pollution is a driving force for all the citizens, he added. He further said the Prime Minister’s Science Technology and Innovation Council (PMSTIAC) is committed to steering this major science-led mission to tackle the country’s waste challenges.

Faridabad MP and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar said the project will play a pivotal role in cleaning the drain. For this to be a sustainable solution, the local communities should get involved with the project and work with the local authorities in maximising its impact, he added.

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