Monitoring System By IIT-Kanpur Will Help In The Fight To Improve River Ganga's Water Quality

Cleaning up the polluted River Ganga, considered sacred by Hindus has been one of the most ambitious projects launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Despite spending crores of rupees over the years, River Ganga remains largely polluted and most efforts to clean up the waterbody have failed to take off.

AFP

According to a recent petition filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) the water quality of the river Ganga in Varanasi is in bad condition. Faecal coliform bacteria count at Varun- Ganga confluence is 71 million per 100ML of water (Ganga Jal) and faecal coliform count at Assi River and Ganga confluence is 52 Million per 100ML of water and on Assi Ghat faecal coliform is 1 lakh 40 thousand per 100ML of Ganga Jal.

The permissible limit of faecal coliform bacteria should not exceed 500 per 100ML of water.

BCCL/FILE

Niracara Svayamsasita VedhShala (NSVS)

Recently, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur) had launched an autonomously developed Aquatic Autonomous Observatory named Niracara Svayamsasita VedhShala (NSVS), for In situ Monitoring, Real-Time Data Transmission and Web-based Visualization of the river Ganga.

The NSVS system was launched at the Laxman Ghat of Bithoor on the river Ganges, on 31 October.

The project has been implemented by a team of earth scientists, mechanical, electrical, and aerospace engineers from IIT Kanpur, led by Prof. Bishakh Bhattacharya as the Principal Investigator.

IIT Kanpur

Prof. Indra S Sen (Earth Science), Prof. Ketan Rajawat (Electrical Engineering) and Prof. Mangal Kothari (Aerospace Engineering). Dr. Aleck Wang of WHOI (Wood Hole Institute USA) also participated in designing a sensor.

Low-cost system

According to Prof. Bishakh Bhattacharya, NSVS system is developed as a low-cost, multi-parameter, water quality monitoring platform that would consist of array of sensors and autosamplers placed on a stationary platform that is semi-submersible, all-weather, robust, and perfectly stable.

IIT Kanpur

"The NSVS is designed as a passive aquatic observatory which is semi-submerged and stable up to a wind velocity of 110 Km/h. It has an open sensor architecture based on Laura WSN system. Currently, three sensors namely: Ph Sensor, DO Sensor, and Conductivity Sensor. However, 3 more sensors can be added subsequently in the portal. The system is autonomous. It generates its own power through solar cells and through a unique vortex-induced vibrator (patented by IITK). It collects data for 24 hours and 365 days and sends the same remotely to the workstation at IITK," Prof. Bhattacharya, explained.

The project is funded by DST-IUSSTF jointly. It took three years to complete the prototype. The project budget was Rs 1.43 crore. Nearly 60% of the budget was spent on high precision sensor calibration and the design of a sensor and auto-collection system from the US.

IIT Kanpur

He said that so far, only one such NSVS monitor has been developed and deployed in River Ganga and that it is too early to draw a conclusion from the data.

"It has been observed that while Ph and DO are in the safe level, the conductivity is a little high which indicates the presence of metal ions. The system needs to collect data at least for one full year to understand the characteristics of the river in various seasons. We will need many more such devices to assess the real health of the River Ganga throughout its length. Since the technology was developed by IIT-K we can always scale it up, with the help of NGOs or the government," he told Indiatimes.

IIT Kanpur

Prof. Bhattacharya, however, added that monitoring of River Ganga's water quality has to be followed up with efforts to remove pollutants from the water.

He said that the IIT-Kanpur is already working on a remote-operated robotic system that will be able to collect solid waste materials from the water surface.

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