Swachh Bharat Mission: ‘3-well system’ to help rejuvenate ponds in 125 Bathinda villages
Pegged at ₹50 crore, the ambitious project under the Swachh Bharat Mission, for rejuvenating wastewater ponds will be crucial to recharge the groundwater table with clean water.
A total of 125 villages in Bathinda will soon witness a ‘three-well system’ to recycle grey water generated from the village households.
Pegged at ₹50 crore, the ambitious project under the Swachh Bharat Mission, for rejuvenating wastewater ponds will be crucial to recharge the groundwater table with clean water.
These ponds will further be beautified and developed as hygienic walking spaces for the local community.
The district administration has taken the newly elected panchayats on board for the project.
Deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray said work will be undertaken using the benchmark technology devised by Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala.
He said that the project will also generate employment as it will be executed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
“This is a multi-scheme convergence project where funds from different schemes will be pooled. We have four model projects for replication. Presently, work is underway at 18 villages. Our team is working to complete work at all 125 ponds before the onset of monsoon,” said the DC
Called “Thapar model”, the rejuvenation system requires three wells to be dug adjacent to the village pond.
District nodal officer of MGNREGA, Deepak Dhingra said the existing pond is converted into two water bodies. One of the portions is left kutcha where after treatment clean water is used to recharge groundwater, he said.
“Wastewater from all the households is collected in the screening chamber where floating materials are separated. It further goes to a digestion well where water revolves, and solid materials settle down in the base while the liquid floats,” said Dhingra.
Two skimming tanks or wells are dug where the liquid material present in the water get separated and it then moves to the third well, known as the stabilisation tank where almost clean water is collected.
“Water from the stabilisation tank is then transferred to the oxidation pond. The main function of the oxidation pond is to treat wastewater through the interaction of sunlight, bacteria, and algae. Algae grow using energy from the sun and carbon dioxide and inorganic compounds released by bacteria in water,” added Dhingra.