BHOPAL: Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday that the country would soon have potable water from sea at five paise per litre. Trials for conversion of sea water into potable water have started in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, said the minister of River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.

Gadkari was addressing the inaugural session of a two-day Nadi Mahotsav (River Festival) at Bandrabhan on the banks of Narmada river in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh .

He expressed concern over the condition of rivers in India while praising Madhya Pradesh government for its efforts towards water conservation and cited Nagpur's sale of treated sewage water to thermal power stations

Gadkari said his ministry is planning to make more money from the dirty sewage water polluting the rivers by selling the treated water to power plants, industries and railways.

Giving example of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) he said, "The city I belong to is selling treated sewage water to thermal power stations in Maharashtra for three years for power generation work".

It is also a great way of making 'wealth from waste', said Gadkari who never misses an opportunity to drive home the point on how he made money by selling municipal waste water in Nagpur from which methane was one of the by-products.

"Initially when I mooted the proposal people laughed at me. But soon the corporation started getting Rs 18 crore as revenue from the same project and it increased to Rs 28 crore," said the minister.

He said water resources ministry is exploring innovative ways for utilisation of recycled sewage by power plants, sugar industries, distilleries, tanneries with zero discharge policy.

He also expressed the desire to use water to extract methane, Carbon Dioxide and bio-CNG. The Union minister also spoke about how treated sewage water will be used for cleaning rail coaches at different railway stations.

"Water is the biggest problem in India. Only if we manage to save water, forest and animals we would be able to go ahead. It is directly linked to our country and the society," he added.

Gadkari advocated use of fly ash, garbage, plastic for housing and road construction projects.

He concluded his address by paying tribute to former Union Minister Anil Dave for initiating "Nadi Mahotsava".

After Dave's death in May 2017, it was presumed that the event would no longer be held.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan however decided to continue with it in collaboration with Narmada Samgra . This was the fifth event and has been titled "River Festival- Tributaries and their Environment".

Addressing the audience, Chouhan said that state government would revive 377 rivers across the state and plant 6 crore saplings. Dave had started organising the event from 2008 and it continued in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

