Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Floating marine debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or tidewrack. Deliberate disposal of wastes at sea is called ocean dumping. Naturally occurring debris, such as driftwood, are also present.

With the increasing use of plastic, human influence has become an issue as many types of plastics do not biodegrade. Waterborne plastic poses a serious threat to fish, seabirds, marine reptiles, and marine mammals, as well as to boats and coasts. Dumping, container spillages, litter washed into storm drains, and waterways and wind-blown landfill waste all contribute to this problem.

Aspects of Marine Pollution estimated that up to 80% of the pollution was land-based. A wide variety of anthropogenic artifacts can become marine debris; plastic bags, balloons, buoys, rope, medical waste, glass bottles and plastic bottles, cigarette lighters, beverage cans, polystyrene, lost fishing line and nets, and various wastes from cruise ships and oil rigs are among the items commonly found to have washed ashore. Six-pack rings, in particular, are considered emblematic of the problem.

Techniques for collecting and removing marine (or riverine) debris include the use of Sea Cleaning Vessel. Devices such as these can be used where floating debris presents a danger to navigation. Once debris becomes ?beach litter,? collection by hand and specialized beach-cleaning machines are used to gather the trash.

Elsewhere, ?trash traps? are installed on small rivers to capture waterborne debris before it reaches the sea.

We operate and hire sea cleaning boats for municipalities to collect debris on the surface of the sea or lakes or rivers.

The river Ganga originates in the Himalayas, roughly three hundred miles north of Delhi and five miles south of India?s border with Tibet, where it emerges from an ice shrouded cave called Gaumukh and is known as the Bhagirathi. Eleven miles downstream, gray-blue with glacial silt, it reaches the small temple town of Gangotri. Below Gangotri, the river?s path is one of increasing degradation.

Amid various attempts and campaigns, three startups founded by young innovative Indians are trying to clean up the Ganga. Here?s how they are doing it.

1) Omnipresent Robot Tech Pvt Ltd:

The polluted river may find its savior in an unmanned water surface vehicle ?Ro-Boat? that is capable of detecting, collecting and eliminating all kinds of trash including chemical effluents and floating waste from the surface of the water.

The device, which has been piloted and successfully tested in the Yamuna and Ganga Rivers under the Union Water and Resources Ministry?s Ganga Action Plan (GAP), has been developed by a Delhi-based tech company, Omnipresent Robot Tech Pvt Ltd. Aakash Sinha, CEO, and founder of the company says that the machine can be programmed to collect all kinds of pollutants and sludge through its ?robotic arms? and then offload the waste.

The Ro-Boat can work autonomously with minimal human intervention and is equipped with fog lights and a pan-tilt-zoom camera, making it capable of 24?7 operations in all weather conditions. It also has solar panels battery and twin propeller engine that helps it to navigate while consuming less power. The device has a unique ability to completely submerge in the river to pull out the pollutants settled on the riverbed.

2) Help Us Green

Flower pollution is often overlooked by in policy-making on cleaning the river, with the gaze fixed firmly on the industrial waste. Founded by two 26-year-olds ? Ankit Agrawal and Karan Rastogi ? in 2015, Help Us Green collects floral waste from temples, mosques, gurudwaras along the Ganges and converts it into natural and chemical-free lifestyle products like incense sticks and scents. Currently, the startup collects around 1.5 tonnes of floral waste from Kanpur and 8 tonnes from Varanasi.

The flowers are then mixed with organic cow dung and treated with about 17 natural components like coffee residue, corn cobs, etc. These help increase the nitrogen content in the end-product. After a few days, earthworms are added to the mix. These worms consume the mixture and lead to the formation of vermicompost ( a ready-to-use natural fertilizer) after 60 days.

While 80% of the flowers are used to make vermicompost, the rest are crushed and made into incense sticks and yajna/havan items.

3) Detect Technologies

Daniel Raj David, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and co-founder of Detect Technologies, and his team at IIT-Madras have developed a system designed to detect pipeline leakages. The Guided Ultrasonic Monitoring of Pipe Systems (GUMPS), can detect oil leakages from oil pipelines that run on the river bed of the Ganga River.

With students at the helm of the startup, the journey has not been easy. According to the founders, the biggest challenge has been the transition from the system?s technically-sound stage to its commercially viable industry-certified stage. This was crucial as oil and gas refineries have some very stringent certifications for electronics due to the risk of sparks.

By continuously monitoring a huge network of pipelines and alerting the plant for any impending leaks, GUMPS prevents loss of marine life and pollution due to oil leakages. It is also the first continuous real-time pipe monitoring

Ganga often called India?s lifeline, is the country?s national river and has a significant economic, environmental and cultural value attached to it. Thanks to the great work being done by these young startups, there is now a sense of optimism about restoring Ganga to its pristine state. We wish them all the best in their endeavors!

" />

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Floating marine debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or tidewrack. Deliberate disposal of wastes at sea is called ocean dumping. Naturally occurring debris, such as driftwood, are also present.

With the increasing use of plastic, human influence has become an issue as many types of plastics do not biodegrade. Waterborne plastic poses a serious threat to fish, seabirds, marine reptiles, and marine mammals, as well as to boats and coasts. Dumping, container spillages, litter washed into storm drains, and waterways and wind-blown landfill waste all contribute to this problem.

Aspects of Marine Pollution estimated that up to 80% of the pollution was land-based. A wide variety of anthropogenic artifacts can become marine debris; plastic bags, balloons, buoys, rope, medical waste, glass bottles and plastic bottles, cigarette lighters, beverage cans, polystyrene, lost fishing line and nets, and various wastes from cruise ships and oil rigs are among the items commonly found to have washed ashore. Six-pack rings, in particular, are considered emblematic of the problem.

Techniques for collecting and removing marine (or riverine) debris include the use of Sea Cleaning Vessel. Devices such as these can be used where floating debris presents a danger to navigation. Once debris becomes ?beach litter,? collection by hand and specialized beach-cleaning machines are used to gather the trash.

Elsewhere, ?trash traps? are installed on small rivers to capture waterborne debris before it reaches the sea.

We operate and hire sea cleaning boats for municipalities to collect debris on the surface of the sea or lakes or rivers.

The river Ganga originates in the Himalayas, roughly three hundred miles north of Delhi and five miles south of India?s border with Tibet, where it emerges from an ice shrouded cave called Gaumukh and is known as the Bhagirathi. Eleven miles downstream, gray-blue with glacial silt, it reaches the small temple town of Gangotri. Below Gangotri, the river?s path is one of increasing degradation.

Amid various attempts and campaigns, three startups founded by young innovative Indians are trying to clean up the Ganga. Here?s how they are doing it.

1) Omnipresent Robot Tech Pvt Ltd:

The polluted river may find its savior in an unmanned water surface vehicle ?Ro-Boat? that is capable of detecting, collecting and eliminating all kinds of trash including chemical effluents and floating waste from the surface of the water.

The device, which has been piloted and successfully tested in the Yamuna and Ganga Rivers under the Union Water and Resources Ministry?s Ganga Action Plan (GAP), has been developed by a Delhi-based tech company, Omnipresent Robot Tech Pvt Ltd. Aakash Sinha, CEO, and founder of the company says that the machine can be programmed to collect all kinds of pollutants and sludge through its ?robotic arms? and then offload the waste.

The Ro-Boat can work autonomously with minimal human intervention and is equipped with fog lights and a pan-tilt-zoom camera, making it capable of 24?7 operations in all weather conditions. It also has solar panels battery and twin propeller engine that helps it to navigate while consuming less power. The device has a unique ability to completely submerge in the river to pull out the pollutants settled on the riverbed.

2) Help Us Green

Flower pollution is often overlooked by in policy-making on cleaning the river, with the gaze fixed firmly on the industrial waste. Founded by two 26-year-olds ? Ankit Agrawal and Karan Rastogi ? in 2015, Help Us Green collects floral waste from temples, mosques, gurudwaras along the Ganges and converts it into natural and chemical-free lifestyle products like incense sticks and scents. Currently, the startup collects around 1.5 tonnes of floral waste from Kanpur and 8 tonnes from Varanasi.

The flowers are then mixed with organic cow dung and treated with about 17 natural components like coffee residue, corn cobs, etc. These help increase the nitrogen content in the end-product. After a few days, earthworms are added to the mix. These worms consume the mixture and lead to the formation of vermicompost ( a ready-to-use natural fertilizer) after 60 days.

While 80% of the flowers are used to make vermicompost, the rest are crushed and made into incense sticks and yajna/havan items.

3) Detect Technologies

Daniel Raj David, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and co-founder of Detect Technologies, and his team at IIT-Madras have developed a system designed to detect pipeline leakages. The Guided Ultrasonic Monitoring of Pipe Systems (GUMPS), can detect oil leakages from oil pipelines that run on the river bed of the Ganga River.

With students at the helm of the startup, the journey has not been easy. According to the founders, the biggest challenge has been the transition from the system?s technically-sound stage to its commercially viable industry-certified stage. This was crucial as oil and gas refineries have some very stringent certifications for electronics due to the risk of sparks.

By continuously monitoring a huge network of pipelines and alerting the plant for any impending leaks, GUMPS prevents loss of marine life and pollution due to oil leakages. It is also the first continuous real-time pipe monitoring

Ganga often called India?s lifeline, is the country?s national river and has a significant economic, environmental and cultural value attached to it. Thanks to the great work being done by these young startups, there is now a sense of optimism about restoring Ganga to its pristine state. We wish them all the best in their endeavors!

" />
First Community Portal for K-12