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• A floating trash barrier (FTB), developed by a Bengaluru firm to trap trash in waterbodies, has won the Cleaning and Restoring India’s Water Bodies Challenge conducted by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA).
  • The challenge was conducted under the Waste to Wealth Mission, Swachh Bharat Unnat Bharat Mission.
• The performance was evaluated by a jury panel comprising experts from academia, industry, and the government.
• The FTB uses the natural flow of water to bring the trash to the riverbank where it is deployed and from there the trash is manually or mechanically removed.
• The panel observed that the floating trash barrier could address the serious environmental issue of floating solid waste pollution plaguing India’s waterbodies.

Water Pollution

• Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants are introduced into these water bodies.
• Types of Water Pollution; Surface water Pollution, Groundwater Pollution, Microbiological Pollution, Oxygen depletion Pollution, etc.
• Causes of Water Pollution; Discharge of Sewage and wastewater, Dumping of Solid wastes, Discharge of industrial Pollutants, Oil Spill, Acid rain, Global warming, Eutrophication, etc.
• Effects of Water Pollution; Death of aquatic animals, Disruption of food-Chains, Diseases, Destruction of Ecosystems.
• Remedial measures; Comprehensive water management Plan, Construction & Maintenance of the drain line, Sewage Treatment Plant, Regular monitoring of water and wastewater, and Strict actions towards illegal dumping of waste into the water bodies.

Concerns  

• Absence of Segregation of waste at source.
• Release of Methane by Waste.
• Due to a lack of proper treatment facilities, by-products released during decomposition seep into Groundwater and pollute it.
• Improper waste management causes environmental hazards like climate change, pollution, and the spread of odours and diseases.
• Affect human and animal health and result in economic, environmental and biological losses.
• Lack of funds for local bodies.
• Lack of technical expertise.

Steps need to be taken

• Garbage needs to be Reduced, Reused, and Recycled.
• Improvements in Waste Segregation, Collection and Transportation.
• Maximum recycling and Treatment of waste must be done at the local level.
• Involve informal Sector/waste pickers and Citizen groups to Collect and Segregated waste, under a door-to-door Collection System.
• Reduces the quantity of waste and recovers Products of economic value.
• Decentralized waste treatment options Such as Composting units, biogas Plants, waste to-energy Plants.
• Promote the Concept of Zero Waste to minimize the use of resources and maximize benefits.
• Prepare an integrated Solid waste management Plan for the Whole City.
• Educate Citizens about waste Segregation and make them active Stakeholders in waste management.
• Reaching out to School Students to generate awareness about Sustainable waste management
• Strengthening municipal governance, improving waste management and developing regulations within Urban Local Bodies for improving waste segregation.
• Promote the Principle of 5R: Reduce, Reuse, Recover, Recycle, Re-manufacture.
• Set up regional sanitary landfill to reduce land requirements.
• Create an Adequate Funding Mechanism to Implement waste Regulations.
• Capacity-building of local Bodies.
• Development and setting up of infrastructure for Segregation, Collection, Storage, and transportation of waste.
• Regular monitoring for ensuring the safety and health of workers involved in dismantling and recycling.

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