GB Nagar forest dept to treat polluted stream in Surajpur wetlands

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar forest department has said that it will treat the polluted stream that charges lake at Surajpur wetland through an alternative method, known as phytoremediation

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar forest department has said that it will treat the polluted stream that charges lake at Surajpur wetland through an alternative method, known as phytoremediation. It has also decided to ask the department concerned to ensure that “the stream is not polluted through illegal discharge of untreated effluents into it”.

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The storm water stream — Havelia drain — originates in Hapur districts and meets the Hindon River, while its tributary stream enters and recharges the lake in Surajpur reserve forest in Greater Noida, according to the officials. The small stream is now heavily polluted with excessive industrial and domestic effluents that are discharged into it, due to which the drain needs to be treated before it causes further impact on the lake, they added.

The forest department will use phytoremediation to treat the polluted stream naturally. Phytoremediation is a natural method of treating the effluents by passing a drain through a pond or tank with certain aquatic plants in it, that filters the drain and increases the biochemical oxygen levels in the water. The aquatic plants used includes cattail, phragmites or common reed, sedges, and ipomoea carnea or besharam plant, experts said.

“We will write to the department concerned to get the drain cleaned, but we would not rely on them completely. As an experiment, we will also use phytoremediation. The department is capable of setting up alternative ways of cleaning streams, and it will construct a small pond at the inlet of the stream and pass the drain though it to treat the effluents. The work will begin by next month,” said PK Srivastava, divisional forest officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.

Currently, the 60-hectare lake in Surajpur wetlands — city’s largest reserve forest — is excessively polluted and the water has turned black, it stinks, and is covered with foam, indicating the presence of industrial effluents in it. The divisional forest department is yet to test the toxicity levels of the lake and send the water samples to a lab to find out its quality or the number of effluents in it.

The Surajpur wetlands is one of the three major birding hotspots in the district, with others being Okhla Bird Sanctuary and Dhanauri wetlands.

CR Babu, professor emeritus, Delhi University, said, “Any alternate technology is better, as the conventional technologies like STP, RO among others are very expensive to build or to maintain. For one MLD of sewage treatment the cost is ₹5 crore, and the maintenance is in lakhs. While phytoremediation, floating island, constructed wetlands etc., are most widely used throughout the world, they work on the same principle of STP. It has a stabilising or oxidation tank or pond, a filtration chamber, and plants. The aquatic plants pump more oxygen to clean the water. The maximum cost for such alternative methods is around ₹10 lakh at the time of the construction and needs just one gardener to maintain it. They can be used for primary, secondary or tertiary treatment of industrial effluents too.”