How Gujarat bus comes to rescue of Fani-ravaged villagers in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: As Cyclone Fani paralyzed drinking water supply and contaminated many ponds and wells in worst affected Puri district, a customised bus housing a water purification and desalination plant has come to the rescue of thousands of parched villagers in the peak summer. The 40-ft-long bus was developed by the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) at Bhavnagar in Gujarat in 2007-08.
Realizing the plight of the Fani-affected people, the CSMCRI sent the bus from Gujarat to Puri on May 7, four days after Fani devastated the coastal district.

The indigenously developed bus can purify more than 40,000 litres of drinking water per day.
Led by senior scientist Dr Sanjay Patil, the bus reached Bhubaneswar on May 8 and conducted a site survey in Puri district with the officials of Panchayati Raj and drinking water department. “We are working in coordination with the state rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) division. Our bus is moving to affected areas as per the guidance of the RWSS. We were stationed in several villages in Kakatpur and Satyabadi areas in the district since May 9,” said Bhoumik Sutaria, a CSMCRI scientist associated with the high-tech bus.
Patil said the bus’s plant can purify contaminated turbid, brackish and saline water and make it potable and good for drinking. The bus has a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination and ultra-filtration plant and consists of thin-film composite membrane filtration that can remove viruses and bacteria from water.
“At present, we are purifying at least 4,000 litres of water from ponds per hour. The purified water is being filled in RWSS tankers for smooth supply,” Sutaria said. The bus works on 23 kilowatt power produced by generator attached to the vehicle’s engine. “We currently face power supply problem in Odisha and are using the generator. The bus has also solar panels on its roof and can draw part of the solar power to maintain basic energy needs,” he said.
Villagers at Biragobindpur where the bus was stationed on Tuesday heaved a sigh of relief after getting pure drinking water. “We are obliged to the CSMCRI for sending us the bus to our village in this crisis time. We were struggling to get drinking water as our village pond was filled with garbage, tree branches and dust,” said Subrata Mishra, a villager.
Sources said the specially designed bus was mobilized in a number of states, hit by natural calamities in the past. The CSMCRI had despatched the bus to Odisha during flash floods in 2013 and quenched the thirst of countless villagers in Ganjam, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts.