Ecological 

Restoration of Polluted 
Rivers & Lakes of India
Rivers & Lakes of India

River in urban areas

Dream to convert into clean river

Sayali Joshi
Vice President, SESS & CEO, SERI, Pune
sess.culture@gmail.com; sayali@seriecotech.com
 Rivers of India

Ref.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_rivers_of_India accessed on 28 May 2014
Indian Waters: Current Status

Pollution: Major Cause of Economic Losses,
Stunted development in many regions
 Issues of Waters – Rivers and Lakes
‰ Encroachment
‰ Pollution
‰ Losses / alterations of
Hydrologic Cycle due to
hydromodifications

‰ Local to Global Problem

‰ Decentralized issues
‰ Centralized infrastructure
without due credit to
4
ecosystem processes
 Current Status of Water bodies: India   

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) less than 1 ppm in most of the urban water bodies
Unhealthy water bodies lead to  perilous epidemics 
Aftermaths of the GAP Phase‐I Schemes for Varanasi
1. BOD in the religious bathing area is high even
after
f completion
l i off the
h GAP I.I The
Th BOD isi as high
hi h
as 25 mg/l at the confluence of Ganga and
Varuna.

2. Fecal coliform varied from 70000 mpn/100ml to

1.5 million/100ml.

3 In unpolluted upstream area of Assi river ‐ 2mg/l

3.
of BOD and undetectable fecal coliform.

4. Treated sewage coming out from STPs has BOD

>50mg/l; suspended solids >100mg/l; fecal
coliform levels remain very high.

5 About 90 per cent of pollution into the holy river

5.
is caused by sewage generation while only about
5 to 6 per cent industrial effluents can be blamed
for river pollution.

(Ref.:http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/153800/ accessed
on 28/05/2014)
 Governments’ Environmental Accountability and Responsibility  
of Lotic (Stream) / Lentic (Lake) Restoration Project Management
Social, Cultural 
Necessity 

51A (g)
(g)
48A
People, Groups, 
NGOs, CBOs, 
Volunteers Green
Volunteers, Green 
Clubs

Government 
Departments /
Departments / 
Green Surgeons, 
G S
Nodal Agency
Designers, 
Planners, Green 
Curator

Protection, Regulation  Science, Engineering & 
& Conservation Technology 
 Ecological Restoration
Not infrastructure but eco‐health
Not infrastructure but eco health improvement
improvement

It’ss Not ASSET but
It Not ASSET but
PROCESS
 Restoration of Rivers and Lakes

9 Ecological Health project and not Infrastructure project

9 Revitalization of self-purification capacity of water body

9 Conversion of single species or no life river or lake water

body into multispecies living water body

9 Maximum use of nature’s own capital

p and recurring
g and
minimization of monetary and manmade inputs like
electricity, machinery and chemicals

9 Local action for Global issue of Climate Change

 Compliance With Rules & Regulations

National 
Water Policy,  Action Plan for 
2012 & 2002
2012 & 2002  Climate
Climate 
Water quality for 
prioritized uses
Change 
(NAPCC), 2008
R d ti
Reduction of GHGs
f GHG

Water Pollution 
National  (Prevention &
(Prevention & 
Environment  Control) Act, 
Policy, 2006 1974 & its 
Conservation of water  amendment
resources through  Discharge standards
livelihood
 What is Ecotechnology?

Chemical Sciences Life Sciences Earth Sciences

and Engineering and Engineering and Engineering

Ecotechnology

River Restoration Lake Restoration

Green Bridge System
• Culmination of 25+ years of 
research

• 100% Natural Process

• Reinvigorates the natural 
Reinvigorates the natural
Ecosystem

• Truly sustainable
l i bl

• Carbon positive

• Nitrogen positive

• Fecal pathogen control
Green Bridges

The horizontal eco-filtration system – a grafting

of ecological system to treat the pollution
flowing through the streams and rivers
 Space Footprint 0 sq. m
Carbon Footprint Less than 0
Ecotoxicity reduced to 0
Nutrient Balance 100%

Significant Observation
Despite of continued industrial discharges and shock loads there is no fish kill.
kill
Fish contract deposit increased from Rs. 2,00,000 (in 2008 – 09) to Rs. 1,25,00,000 (in 2012).
Significant Observation

DO concentration increased from 0 mg/L (untreated stretch) to 11.4 mg/L (treated).

DO transfer in a day – 11500 kg in 1 km stretch of ecotechnological treatment

(
(equivalent
i l t tot Rs.
R 3 crores – the
th costt incurred
i d for
f mechanical
h i l aeration)
ti )
 Rasoolabad Stream Restoration Project: 2011 - 2012

 
Before After

 
Stream No. 3
 Green Structures for revival
of river’s self-purification capacity Buddha NEER Project with
support from MoEF, NRCD, CPCB
 Lessons from Ecological Restoration Projects in 
Different Parts of India
Different Parts of India
Governance issue Ahar River,  Medi Kuntha, Rasoolabad,  Buddha Nallah, 
Udaipur Hyderabad Allahabad Ludhiana
SStewardship / 
d hi / UCCI Wi
Wiprocare Ganga
G S
Sewa CPCB & NRCD
Patron Abhiyan
Monitoring JSS & UCCI IAAB & SERI GSA & SERI CPCB, PPCB &
SERI
Stakeholder/s UIT, Irrigation HMDA AMC LMC, irrigation
Institutional  6 7 5 4
coordination
Institutional  6 8 4 2
memory
S l 1 to 10 (where 1 is the worst & 10 is the best)
Scale – 1 t 10 ( h 1 i th t & 10 i th b t)
Science &  SERI SERI SERI SERI
Technology
Implementation GRIN SERI GRIN GRIN
Benefits to Farmers & Villagers Ganga Project Farmers
fishermen
 Lessons from Ecological Restoration Projects in 
Maharashtra
Governance issue Waldhuni Jayanti Nallah,  CME, Dapodi,  Ambil Odha, 
River,  Mumbai Kolhapur Pune Pune
SStewardship / 
d hi / UMC MPCB
UMC, KMC MPCB
KMC, CME, Cummins
CME C i C
Corporates &
Patron Foundation RAG
Monitoring MPCB MPCB SERI RAG & SERI
Stakeholder/s Water supply & Downstream ‐ PMC
industries population
Institutional  2 2 8 7
coordination
Institutional  1 1 8 6
memory
S l 1 to 10 (where 1 is the worst & 10 is the best)
Scale – 1 t 10 ( h 1 i th t & 10 i th b t)
Science &  SERI SERI SERI SERI
Technology
Implementation ‐ ‐ CRC CRC
Benefits to Urban Villagers River ecosystem River ecosystems
population
 Present Status of Khan River, Indore
Khan River is the main
water body of the Indore
city. Indore city is situated
in the catchment of two
small rivers i.e.
i e Khan and
Sarswati. Khan River is
flowing through heart of
Indore city and traveling
around 50 km distance
before confluences with
Total sewage:200 MLD(CPCB  Shipra River at Ujjain.
Report(2010)
IMC is treating: 90 MLD 
Industrial effluent: 2.2 MLD

Downstream to Indore from kabitkhedi to Sanwer Khan

river water is being used for growing vegetables and
irrigating the crops by the Farmers. It poses high risk of
food chain contamination.
 Present Status of Nag River, Indore

Sewage generation from the city: 346 MLD
STP capacity: 100 MLD
Stretch in city : 17 km
Total flow of Nag River: Dry weather flow of Nag River is about 300 MLD 
Present status: Highly concentrated sewage of Nagpur is carried by the Nag and into the
Present status: Highly concentrated sewage of Nagpur is carried by the Nag and into the 
Vainganga. Water stored in the dam reservoir has become polluted and its backwater has 
reached Ganeshpur, 3km from Bhandara.
Nag River is black coloured with foul odor water‐body with floating fecal particles.
l k f
lack of oxygen and biodiversity of phytoplankton and zooplankton, anaerobic degradation 
d bi di i f h l k d l k bi d d i
makes water unsuitable for any type of use
Future of Water Governance
C id E l
Consider Ecology as Economy
E
 Rebirth  of  Streams & Lakes
R bi th f St &L k
With Ecotechnology & Ecological Engineering

Shrishti Eco-Research Institute In association with –

B-106, Devgiri, Opp. P. L. Deshpande
Garden, Near Ganesh Mala, Sinhagad
Road, Pune – 411 030 Phone: +91-20
– 24253773 TeleFax: +91-20-
66206539
Email: seriecotech@yahoo.co.in
1. Green Infrastructure, Pune
2. Yash Foundation, Ahmedabad
3. WAPPSYS, Gurgaon
4 ECOSYS,
4. ECOSYS Pune
5. TransNVtech, Pune