Vadodara: Imagine cleaning the water in a pond at a minuscule expense of two to three paise per litre of the water stored in the waterbody. Strange as it might sound, but that is exactly what the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is trying to achieve using a herbal concoction at the Lalbaug pond.
The pond is one of the most polluted in the city thanks to the discharge of sewage in it. VMC has given the task to a city-based firm that claims that a litre of herbal proprietary formulation infused every day for a month can clean the pond. The simple process involves diluting the formulation in 10,000 litres of water and releasing it into the pond.
The process began on April 6 and the results within a week appear to be encouraging.
The water has become clearer and the stench is much lesser.
The hyacinth that has covered the surface is also expected to wilt away in the coming days. The layer of sludge that has got deposited at the bottom of the pond has also started surfacing.
“The physical appearance of the water has already changed significantly. We cleared some hyacinth from the surface of the pond to allow sunlight on it. Now, we have stopped doing it and the results are there to see. We will be collecting samples now to see if the chemical and biological parameters have also shown improvement,” said executive engineer (north zone) Dharmikkumar Dave.
The herbal concoction GauRE consists of cow dung, cow urine and 22 herbs like amla, aritha and others. Vinod Kumar Dubey from Ruchi Enterprises which is conducting the trial in the Lalbaug pond said that the formula is based on details found in Ayurveda.
“We expect that the entire pond will be cleaned in 30 days,” he said.
The Lalbaug pond has a surface area of around 75,000 square meters and is totally covered with hyacinth and raises a stink. It is a major source of mosquitoes in the area. “We expect the smell, mosquitoes and the murky quality of water to go away very soon,” said Dubey.
Dubey said that the firm has earlier treated ponds in Ahmedabad, Raipur in Chhatisgarh, Delhi and Nagpur in Maharashtra using the technique.“However, these were projects that were sponsored by NGOs or other such entities. It is the first time we are working with a civic body in the country,” said Dubey.
The VMC has promised the vendor to work on other ponds if the experiment at Lalbaug is successful. Even if sewage contamination continues, the ponds can be kept clean if the treatment is done periodically after thoroughly rejuvenating them once using the technique.
