Neeri revives Raipur’s Telibandha Lake

Nagpur: Using its patented wastewater treatment technology, Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) has purified the Telibandha Lake of Raipur, which had turned into a dumpsite for municipal solid waste.
The project was initiated in 2016 by Neeri director Rakesh Kumar. The institute, along with Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) jointly bagged an order from the Raipur Smart City Limited (RSCL) to revive the lake which is spread over 10 hectares.

The institute started the rejuvenation work in October 2017. “At that time, the lake was adversely polluted. It was completely covered in algae and had turned into a dumping site for the city’s solid waste. A sewage line was also discharging contaminated water into the lake,” said Ritesh Vijay, principal scientist and in charge of Neeri’s Mumbai zonal centre.

Neeri used two of its patented technologies to bring the lake back to life – phytorid wastewater treatment and phyto floating rafters. To ensure that only clean water enters the water body, the institute installed phytorid wastewater treatment plant at the drain.

An eco-friendly and cost-effective technology, phytorid involves a constructed wetland exclusively designed for treatment of municipal, urban, agricultural and industrial wastewater. The organic solution is removed by bacteria and the nutrients are absorbed by specific plants. “The plant treats the wastewater coming from drainage and releases treated water in the lake,” said Vijay.

At present, the plant set-up at Telibandha is treating 15 lakh litre water per day. Apart from this, over 100 floating rafters are ensuring that the lake remains clean. The rafters are wetland plants which float continuously on a water body. The roots of the plants decompose organic matter present in the sewage. As the nutrients from the sewage get absorbed, excessive growth of plants and algae in the lake can be prevented.

Both the technologies have successfully managed to purify the lake’s water. “The quality of the effluent, in terms of suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand is meeting the discharge standards prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board,” said Vijay.

Neeri has reportedly set up more than 200 phytorid plants across the country. Developed by Kumar, the first plant was set up at the Kalina campus of Mumbai University in 2006. The floating rafters have been set up inside Neeri headquarters in Nagpur and at Makhmali and Siddheshwar lake in Thane.