State to clean Pune’s rivers with reverse osmosis

“Pollution of the rivers is a serious matter as it is widely used by villagers at the source level for drinking and irrigation purpose. The report is expected in two months and we will take a decision on the same,” he said.

Some MLAs said that the rivers had a thin layer of oil and chemical effluents,which made it unfit for human consumption. “Around 300 villages from Pune district and 26 villages from Shirur taluka are getting polluted water after chemical effluents released from industries was mixed in the flow of Bhima river,” the members said.

The rivers which flow from the far villages in Pune district make their way into the main city of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Drying up and pollution of the rivers has been a major cause of concern for the residents of Pune.

The committee,to be headed by district collector,Pune,will study the entire stretch of the rivers and find reasons for their pollution. It will single down the companies and industries that are releasing untreated water,recommend treatment and purification schemes at village level and suggest long and short term programmes to counter the pollution.

Speaker Dilip Walse Patil directed Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to urgently take necessary steps to overcome water pollution.

The state government plans to clean polluted water with reverse osmosis technique on an experimental basis. Commonly used in desalination of sea water for drinking purpose,the RO process removes salt and other substances from the water molecules.

The filtration method removes large molecules

in water by applying pressure on one side of a selective membrane and thus passing the pure solvent to the other side.

Kamble said after studying the economic viability of the project,decision will be taken on setting up of the plant.

Forty-five per cent of Pune’s untreated sewerage water is released directly in the rivers. It will take another three years till 100 per cent waste water can be treated.