Artificial Intelligence Helps In Waste Management At Meghalaya's Picturesque Umaim Lake

The Meghalaya government is using artifical intelligence (AI) to tackle the state's growing waste problem. The state has adopted AI-enabled robotic technology to keep it's tourist hotspot, Umiam lake, free of pollutants.

AI-powered boat to remove pollutants/ IANS

The AI-powered boat has the capacity to gather as much as 15 litres of oil and 200 kilograms of floating refuse daily, thus making it an economical method for effectively removing waste.

How the AI-enabled robotic boat works

The AI-integrated robotic boat is able to collect huge quantities of garbage in reasonable time from Umiam Lake.

The robot is unmanned and battery-powered. It is built to collect plastic waste on the shoreline and in waterways.

Twitter

The batteries are charged via solar panels at the on-land docking station and the boat can either be set to run autonomously or guided by a remote operator.

This is a part of the Meghalaya government's Smart Village initiative under which the AI- enabled robotic boat was recently deployed in collaboration with a global non-profit organisation called Smart Village Movement (SVM), and Hong Kong-based technology firm Clearbot after a week-long demonstration.

The SVM aims to empower rural people through digital technologies and open innovation platforms to access global markets.

A milestone in waste management

"Such models will create standard processes to handle waste in a timely manner making operations more efficient than conventional ones. These technologies must be leveraged to a great extent to address the growing menace of waste in general but particularly help scale such operations to similar locations and bring back a thriving ecology and magnificent touristic experiences," said Tulenam Laloo, Director of Operations for the initiative in Meghalaya.

Ramkumar, nodal officer of the Smart Village Movement said, "Everyone has capabilities to create change at their own level. We were excited to see this pilot taking shape and witness a milestone in waste management. This initiative aligns with our commitment to foster a cleaner and more sustainable environment through technology-driven solution."

In a landmark step towards advancing waste management practices, an innovative demonstration featuring an AI-Integrated marine robotic boat for floating waste collection took place at Kyndong Rella in the Mawdun Area of Umiam Lake. This indeed is an innovative way to address¡­ pic.twitter.com/S1JggRmc4F

¡ª Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) August 26, 2023

The Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and hailed this a landmark step towards advancing waste management practices.

Umiam lake

The Umiam Lake is a reservoir in the hills 15 km north of Shillong in the state of Meghalaya, India. It was created by damming the Umiam River in the early 1960s.

Umiam lake/ Wikipedia

The dam's original purpose was to store water for hydroelectric power generation. Today, it also serves as a major tourist attraction in the state and is a popular destination for water sport and adventure facilities.

Due to the rising population of Shillong upstream of the lake, and burgeoning tourists, the lake has become highly polluted. Further, an estimated 40,000 cubic metres of silt enters Umiam Lake every year, due to reasons such as upstream encroachments, deforestation, blockage of natural drainage systems, and unscientific mining in the catchment area.

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