The Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) launched the NMCG-TERI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Water Reuse at the TERI Headquarters in New Delhi. The CoE on Water Reuse is the first of its kind to be established in the country through a collaboration between NMCG and TERI.

The Centre is a quadripartite alliance between NMCG, TERI, industry partners and industry representative bodies, to come up at the TERI campus in Gwal Pahari, Gurugram, will be meeting the objectives of the Ganga Knowledge Centre (GKC) to design and foster research and innovation, including identification of knowledge gaps for research and need for new ideas, supporting targeted research and spurring and nurturing needed innovation e.g. for low-cost, effective and integrated treatment technologies, which could bridge the current treatment gaps, augment capacities and provide safe treated water for reuse. Hence this CoE is also the first of its kind that will match the activities envisaged under GKC.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, DG, NMCG said, “Wastewater after treatment should be used to the extent possible. The idea behind cleaning the Ganga, or a river or a city is to make them sustainable in the long run; sustainability from the point of view of looking at it not as wastewater, but as a resource that can be reused.” Mr Mishra emphasised the need for partnerships with stakeholders, including research institutions and industries, to effectively address water reuse. “We need to have dialogues with industries that are working in the area of wastewater treatment, establishing treatment plants, enhancing water reuse and going to provide treated water for safe reuse,” he added.

In her address, Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, highlighted that cutting-edge research should aim to help the larger community. “Research which remains in the laboratory is of little use,” said Dr Dhawan, pointing out that TERI has always worked closely with industries and other stakeholders. She emphasized that treating wastewater at source is crucial not only from an economic perspective, but also as a sustainability measure”.

Dr S. K. Sarkar, Distinguished Fellow and Senior Director, Water Resources Division, TERI, said, “The conventional technologies for wastewater treatment and reuse have limitations, therefore new technologies are a necessity. In this regard, TERI has developed the TERI Advanced Oxidation Technology (TADOX^®) for wastewater treatment, achieving ZLD and enhancing water reuse. Setting up of this Centre of Excellence will help in advancing such technology initiatives.

During the discussion Mr. Jagmohan Gupta suggested to focus on technological innovations in the grey water sector also. Mr. Madhava Kumar spoke on the inclusion of Faecal Sludge management and development of plug in and play technologies as well. Mr. Arghya Paul suggested to use sludge for producing gas and to achieve net zero targets in its approach.  The Centre will be Headed by Dr Nupur Bahadur, Fellow and Area Convenor, TADOX^® Technology Centre for Water Reuse, Water Resources Division, TERI. She pointed out that “The Centre will emerge as a World Class Institution that will benefit stakeholders such as industries and industrial clusters, Universities involved in R&D programs in wastewater treatment as well as provide technical consultancy, training, and capacity building support to Central and State Governments, Urban Local Bodies, and industries in wastewater treatment and water reuse”.

The event was also attended by Dr S. K. Sarkar, Distinguished Fellow and Senior Director, Water Resources Division, TERI, Mr. Jagmohan Gupta, Advisor NMCG, Mr. Madhava Kumar R, Economic and Financial Adviser, NMCG, Mr. Arghya Paul, Co-Lead Institutional, NMCG, Mr Sandeep Pandey, and others from NMCG and TERI.

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BY/AS

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