Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan 

contact: Dr.P. Albino Kumar 

Associate Professor 

Dean Academics 

email: albinoiit@gmail.com 

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 UNNAT BHARAT ABHIYAN 

ACTION PLAN

A core committee has been formed comprising of Faculties, Staffs and Students headed by the Co-ordinator Dr.P.Albino Kumar (Associate Professor, Civil Engg. Dept). At present, NIT Manipur is the Regional Coordinator for Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan, Manipur State.

This is the link for Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan, NIT Manipur. (http://unnatbharatabhiyan.gov.in/app/webroot/files/presentations/uba%202.0/A%20%20STEP%20%20TOWARDS%20UNNAT%20%20BHARAT%20ABHIYAN_NIT%20Manipur.pdf)

1. Introduction 

The villagers of Nambol face acute crisis of water scarcity. UBA NIT Manipur has adopted 5 (five) villages at Nambol, Bishnupur District of Manipur namely- Nambol Makha, Kongkham awang, Maibam Chingmang, Nambol Bazar &Koriphaba. The team of UBA-NIT Manipur had carried out Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) of these villages in 2015 and identified the most priority issue - Clean & Safe water for drinking. The villages have ponds and it's their main source of water. NIT Manipur adopt the villages through UBA and firstly surveyed and select few ponds for treatment. A lab- scale and a pilot plant filtration unit has been set at NIT Manipur, and studied for designing of large scale plant to be implemented at the villages site using biosand filter concept. A low cost 9000 L water treatment plant based on roughing and biosand filter was designed and constructed by NIT Manipur and finally inaugurated on 27^th August 2016 along with awareness programme. The treated water were odourless, colourless and health effects were found to be almost nil. The treatment plant serves the villagers within 3 km radius. Another 2^nd water treatment plant was constructed and handed over to villagers of Maibam Chingmang in April 2018.

2. Impact/positive change of the project on the community: 

Treatment of water from nearby ponds using indigenous techniques (combination of Roughing Filter and Slow Sand Filter) with low cost and easily available materials. The 9000 L water treatment plant based on roughing and biosand filter treats the water from the Pond and provided drinking water (Potable water) to the villagers of Nambol. The treated water were tested for all the parameters and observed within permissible limit for potable water and hence these treated water were abundantly used by all the villagers in the vicinity. More than 2000 villagers of Nambol depend on this filter for their drinking water. Villagers within 2-3 km(farthest) radius of the treatment plant comes and collect water, the mode of conveyance being trolleys and bicycles. Regular surveys were carried out to identify effect due to the plant water if any. For the last three years the water treatment plant fulfill the needs to safe and healthy water for consumption without any cost and minimum maintenance. Also programs related to sanitation of the villages through introduction and installation of Dust Bins (Different solid waste) to optimise Solid Waste Management provide a very effective awareness and practice to the villagers in the vicinity regarding importance of sanitation.

3. Outreach 

After completion of the construction, the inauguration of the biosand filter on 28th August 2016 was attended by more than 200 local peoples. The awareness & demonstration lectures were delivered by Dr. P. Albino Kumar, UBA Coordinator, NIT Manipur. This whole project with the awareness programmes on importance and methodology for sanitation also benefited a lot to the local villagers in the vicinity and hence the project was extended and another 2^nd water treatment plant was constructed and handed over to the villagers of Maibam Chingmang in April 2018.

Brief History 

UBA NIT Manipur has adopted 5 (five) villages at Nambol, Bishnupur District of Manipur. Namely-

1. Nambol Makha

2. Kongkham awang

3. Maibam Chingmang

4. Nambol Bazar &

5. Koriphaba.

The team of UBA-NIT Manipur had carried out Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) of these village in 2015 and identified the most priority issue - Clean & Safe water for drinking. The villages has lots of ponds and it's their main source of water. However the degree of safeness of these water are the main concerns. During the pond water assessment survey from 25^th March till 17^th April 2015, the following data were obtained. (Table 1.) suggesting high Turbidity, Hardness, Solids, Dissolved oxygen and MPN etc.

Action Plan of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan cell NIT Manipur 

a) Treatment of water from nearby ponds using indigenous techniques (combination of Roughing Filter and Slow Sand Filter) and low cost and easily available materials.

b) Creating awareness of operation and maintenance of the plant.

c) Sanitation of the villages through introduction and installation of Dust Bins (Different solid waste) to optimised Solid Waste Management

d) To provide awareness to the locals regarding importance of sanitation.

A  lab- scale and a pilot plant filtration unit has been set at NIT Manipur, and studied for designing of large scale plant to be implemented at the villages site. The treatment plant was based on indigenous techniques (combination of Roughing Filter and Slow Sand Filter), low cost and easily available materials. The designed plants was approached and conducted for both household and community based requirements (Reactor top view, sectional front view and side sectional view are shown in figures). The high water level pushes the water through the diffuser and filter (also called the hydraulic head. The water level in the reservoir goes down as it flows evenly through the sand. The flow rate will slow down over time due to less pressure to force the water through the filter. The inlet water contains dissolved oxygen, nutrients and contaminants and provides the oxygen required by the microorganisms in the biolayer. Larger suspended particles and pathogens are trapped in the top of the sand and they partially plugged the pore spaces between the sand grains. This also causes the flow rate to slow down. Slow sand filter are design for continuous water supply with development of Schmutzdecke layer or dirty skin on filter bed to remove the pathogens. However, during survey, the villagers practised intermittent supply and also the pond water won't be sufficient for continuous supply. For intermittent supply, biosand sand filter are widely practised in household scale (maximum 30 cm diameter). Therefore, NIT Manipur designed and study a prototype reactor to enhance the reactor size using biosand filter concept. The detail design of the modified biosand filter is as follows. The media used are sand and gravels from local markets.

Roughing & Biosand Filter  

A 9000 L capacity Treatment plant based on roughing and Biosand filter was designed and constructed. The Plant treats the water from the Pond and provided drinking water (Potable water) to the villagers. The treated water were tested for all the parameters and observed within permissible limit for potable water. The Plant was inaugurated on 28th August 2016. 

(i). The Pond & Water treatment Plant  (ii) UBA Cordinator, NIT Manipur  (Dr P Albino )giving awareness on operation and maintenance of the Treatment plant community based BIOSAND Filter

Results: After completion of the construction, the biosand filter was inaugurated on 28th August 2017. The inauguration was attended by more than 200 local peoples and awareness & demonstration lecturer were delivered by Dr. P. Albino Kumar, UBA Coordinator, NIT Manipur with emphasis on the following points:

Protection of Pond against cattle and human intervention to preserve the quality of pond water. The mechanism of the reactor Dos & Donts on the reactor (wasting of treated water by kids for bathing- a common sight always) Design of house hold filters with easily available low cost material.

Monitoring & survey: The assessment of water parameters were evaluated on site & lab and is shown in Table 2 and showed that all the treated effluent were within the permissible limit.

Table : Water parameters of the untreated and treated during last 8 months 

During the survey with the villagers, the following conclusions were also drawn.

• Monitoring of the biosand filter plant & survey of the water consumption has been carried out since inauguration and the following observations are made.
• No of people depending on this biosand filter: more than 2000 nos
• Farthest distance of villagers collecting water from the filter: 2-3 km
• Mode of conveyance for collection: Trolleys, cycles. (Fig. 7)
• Frequency of pumping for feeding: 1-2 hours every alternate day
• Decrease in output flowrate: Insignificant (suggesting higher capacity of filtration)
• Smell or colour in water: Nil
• Any health effects due to this treated water: Nil

Success story of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan  

NIT Manipur