The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, in association with the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), will conduct a feasibility study on rejuvenating the canals in Alappuzha.
It plans to restore the waste-choked canals to their past glory through decentralised solid and liquid waste management. As part of it, a summer school will be held in May.
As many as 300 students pursuing engineering, social sciences, urban planning, and architecture from across the country are expected to participate in the programme.
It will be held in three phases from May 6 to 12, May 19 to 25, and May 25 to June 2.
N.C. Narayanan of IIT-B told The Hindu that the summer school would be the continuation of a winter school on water pollution held in Alappuzha last year. “Our aim is to clean the canals with people’s participation. We will be utilising alternative and sustainable low-cost technologies for the purpose. However,Prior to the preparation of a detailed plan for the rejuvenation of the canals, we needed to understand the situation in detail. Through the summer school, we would collect comprehensive data on solid and liquid waste generation, waste dumping, water pollution, and so on. A detailed household survey would be undertaken by the students,” Mr. Narayanan said.
Water treatment
Recently, in a bid to prevent waste water flow into the canals, a system for decentralised anaerobic water processing at source was launched on an experimental basis. The process is expected to get a boost after the summer school.
Officials said the summer school would provide a platform for the students to interact with experts and help them get an understanding of sanitation, waste water management, and pollution mitigation. Students pursuing master’s or bachelor’s degree in civil/environmental engineering, architecture, planning, and social sciences can apply on http://kila.ac.in /summerschool . Selected students will be provided training on smart tools for surveys, among other things.
The Cochin University College of Engineering, Kuttanad (CUCEK), Consortium for DEWATS Dissemination Society (CDD), Bengaluru; the Alappuzha municipality; and Inspiration, Cochin, are also collaborating in this endeavour.
