Prayagraj: Lifestyle changes and increased plastic use are choking water bodies. While some rivers are drying up, others are getting swallowed by plastic. But there’s hope! Fighting plastic waste with plastic, the Uttar Pradesh govt is installing floating trash barriers in drains and water channels linked to the Sai River in Pratapgarh.A prototype barrier, made from bamboo and a plastic bottle, has been installed in the river that collects waste and protects the ecosystem, said Ashutosh Gupta, divisional forest officer (Pratapgarh). It is low-cost, eco-friendly, and a big step for river conservation. Next up, other rivers might get this treatment.The floating waste barrier initiative process involves five simple steps — bottle collection, where plastic bottles are collected for reuse; bottle assembly, where bottles are packed into mesh nets; floating module ready, where bottle bundles are prepped for buoyancy; barrier installation, where barriers are fixed in the river using bamboo; and waste captured, where floating waste gets trapped for removalAs part of the initiative, taken up by the social forestry and wildlife division, spots with high plastic flow have been pinpointed, and these barriers are doing their job – letting water flow, trapping trash.Gupta said teams from local municipal bodies and gram panchayats regularly clear the accumulated waste from these barriers and ensure its safe disposal.Officials said plastic pollution has got rivers near temples and holy sites in a chokehold — devotees leave behind trash like water bottles and worship materials, which end up in the river. The Sai River, flowing by Maa Belha Devi Dham in Pratapgarh, was struggling with this mess.In Prayagraj division, seven rivers on the verge of extinction are getting a new lease of life. Divisional commissioner Saumya Agarwal said that ongoing efforts are focused on reviving and conserving the Lapri, Karnavati and Varuna rivers in Prayagraj district, the Susar Khaderi and Pandu rivers in Fatehpur and the Sai and Chamraura rivers in Pratapgarh.The most extensive of these initiatives centres on the Susar Khaderi River, which historically flowed across three districts. In its second phase of revival, the 58-kilometre Susar Khaderi River, which originates from Akhnai Lake in Farsi village (Fatehpur) and historically flowed through 125 villages across Kaushambi and Prayagraj before merging with the Yamuna River in Prayagraj, is being restored. Restoration work for the river is currently being executed at Rs 2.56 crore.
