LOTUS project at Barapullah Drain should be replicated: LG

NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday visited the site of LOTUS project at the Barapullah Drain, Sun Dial Park at Sarai Kale Khan.

He advised that the project should be a node for government-community-science interaction and awareness hub.

Baijal was accompanied by Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Union Ministry of Science and Technology; Dr. Shailja Vaidya Guta, Adviser, DBT; Prof. T R Sreekrishnan, Dean IIT Delhi; Udai Pratap Singh, vice-Chairman, DDA; and officers.

The LG appreciated the concept and congratulated the DBT for the unique initiative.

Prof. VijayRaghvan told Baijal that the DBT and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research are together implementing the project LOTUSHR (Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse), which is a joint Indo-Netherlands collaborative project.

The LG observed that smooth coordination between different departments involved in the project, namely Delhi Jal Board, DDA (Delhi Development Authority), IIT Delhi, Union Environment Ministry was necessary for a win-win partnership.

Baijal was informed that the benefits emerging from the project have far reaching effects, such as clean water for industrial, agricultural and community use and recycling and reuse of the waste water for both recovery of waste and generation of gas/power that would benefit all sectors.

Prof. VijayRaghavan explained that the goal of LOTUS project is to develop water treatment technologies for removal of pollutants, such as heavy metals, as well as new and emerging contaminants which usually go undetected in existing traditional sewage treatment plants.

"This project aims to demonstrate a novel holistic waste-water management approach, that will produce clean water which can be reused for various proposes while simultaneously recovering nutrients and energy from the urban waste water, thus converting drain into profitable mines", said Baijal.

He desired that the project should gradually be developed as a successful model that is scalable and replicable.