2nd phase of LOTUS-HR program launched during visit of Dutch King & Queen

The launch programme was held during the visit of Netherlands King & the Queen to the India-Netherlands water laboratory at the Barapullah drain in Delhi.

During the visit of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty, Queen Maxima of the Kingdom of the Netherlands a joint launch of the second phase of the Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS-HR) program was done by the Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan, today. The launch programme was held during the visit of Netherlands King & the Queen to the India-Netherlands water laboratory at the Barapullah drain in Delhi.

Announcing the scaling up of LOTUS-HR for treatment of sewage water at a function in New Delhi, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said “Today, we are going to enter into the second phase, wherein 10 thousand L sewage water will be treated per day. Dutch and Indian companies are contributing to the project by sharing their existing technologies and will showcase how one can treat urban wastewater into clean water for various purposes.  We are also in the process of emulating this in other projects across the country”.

The project was initiated in July 2017 and aims to demonstrate a novel holistic (waste) water management approach that will produce clean water which can be reused for various purposes. The innovative pilot-scale modular plant upon commissioning will treat 10,000 L sewage water per day and will showcase a self-sustaining model for the end-user.

This pilot-scale facility will employ multiple technologies so that the data generated at the pilot-scale becomes a tool-box of treatment technologies for replication at other sites in Delhi as well as other parts of India where similar drains exist. The rationale is that the mixing and matching of technologies from this tool-box will depend on the quantity (flow rate) and quality (pollutant load) of drain water, land availability, site accessibility as well as topography. 

The LOTUS-HR project is jointly supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research /STW, Government of Netherlands.

The visit of their Majesties to the India-Netherlands water laboratory signifies the importance of the on-going collaboration between both countries while further strengthening the collaboration by expanding the activities through the second phase of the LOTUS-HR project for cleaning up the Barapullah drain.

During their visit to the water laboratory, their Majesties were also informed about collaboration in the area of water technology and witnessed project demonstrations by the involved researchers. Their Majesties also appreciated the numerous initiatives in this regard.

Wetlab a Design challenge jointly supported by DBT-BIRAC and Netherlands Enterprise Agency is a novel way of competition which provides a unique learning and networking platform for both Indian and Dutch young professionals and students to think differently for innovative ideas to solve India’s urban water challenges and contribute to cleaning up India’s rivers.

The intent of Wetlab is focussed on making the best ideas becoming an input for the realization of the Water Experience Center that may further lead to turning the project site into an attractive center for education and technology demonstration for students, young professionals and creating opportunities for startups.

The Indo-Dutch collaboration aims to pave new ways to create techno entrepreneurship and encourage a sustainable business model to convert sewage water into clean water for healthy re-use.

The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Shri Anil Baijal; Principal Scientific Advisor to GoI, Shri VijayRaghavan; Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ms. Renu Swarup and other dignitaries were present at the event.

(With Inputs from PIB)