PAVITRA GANGA

India’s water resources are under severe stress resulting from overexploitation and pollution. The Indian government has started the Namami Gange programme in line with the sustainable development goals (SDG), including the improvement of wastewater treatment. PAVITRA GANGA links directly to these programmes and builds on existing cooperation between EU/India, supported by national governments. The objective is to fulfil SDG6 by unlocking the environmental and economic potential of municipal wastewater treatment and reuse solutions for urban and peri-urban areas in India. By focussing on three pillars we ensure maximum impact: - People: we create social awareness through a participatory monitoring approach. We target social vulnerable groups by providing treatment solutions for open drains. We create a community of practitioners by the establishment of open innovation test sites and a training & learning network. - Planet: we focus on rejuvenation of the river by removing organic pollution, heavy metals and emerging compounds that have the biggest impact on Indian streams. We provide technology innovations to upgrade existing wastewater infrastructure and to add treatment systems to open drains, resulting in improved quality of receiving rivers. - Profit: we apply the principles of the Circular Economy and exploit the economic opportunities of waste-to-energy, water reuse and resource recovery. Solutions are cost efficient and require limited investments making them particularly suited for the Indian market. In collaboration with local stakeholders and supported by industrial partners we will set-up two pilot sites at the Barapullah Drain (New Delhi) and the Jajmau plant (Kanpur). The dynamics of a business and technology platform combined with a learning network will form strong Indian water professionals, in line with Skill India, while also training EU experts in understanding Indian challenges. This will accelerate the transition to an EU-India level playing field.