They are students with special needs. But at the Buds Rehabilitation Centre (BRC) in Aryad, they are doing extraordinary things.

Any one visiting the centre can see the students busy chopping water hyacinths collected from a nearby waterbody.

The chopped parts, except roots, are then boiled and transferred to a mixer for extracting pulp.

Under the watchful eyes of their instructor (rehabilitation worker), the students mix the pulp generated with paper pulp, and in no time, they are moulded into beautiful handicrafts.

These students, most of them suffering from cognitive disorders, are offering a unique solution to the vexing problem of water hyacinth, one of the most invasive aquatic weeds which is choking the life out of several freshwater ecosystems in the State.

“Articles made of water hyacinth are the latest addition to an array of products we prepare at the BRC,” says BRC rehabilitation worker Vineetha Rajesh.

“Of the students undergoing vocational training in the BRC, some are experts in making soap powder, others in producing lotion, among other things. Recently, we trained students to make toys and decorative items from water hyacinth. Some of the students are very good at it and the products they made were displayed at an expo organised by the Kudumbasree. We are now planning to create more items,” she said.

Eco-friendly

Last year, Vineetha was among the Buds school teachers, Kudumbasree members, and students who had undergone a one-day training on the value-addition of aquatic weeds offered by the community training centre under the Centre for Research on Aquatic Resources (CRAR) at SD College, Alappuzha.

The activities of the CRAR are funded under the Biotechnology Innovations for Rural Development (BIRD) programme of the Kerala  Biotechnology Commission.

The CRAR led by its principal investigator G. Nagendra Prabhu is on a mission to put aquatic weeds to good use. From various aquatic weeds, the centre has developed material for mushroom cultivation, biomass briquettes, and modified hydroponics.

In the process, the researchers also found that pulp generated from water hyacinth could be used for creating handicrafts; utensils; utility articles like multi-purpose boards; egg and fruit trays; disposable plates; painting canvases; and so on.

“Over the years, crores of rupees have been spent to keep invasive species like water hyacinth under control, but with no effect. The CRAR has developed a number of solutions for the control and value addition of aquatic weeds modelled on concepts like eradication through utilisation and use to reduce. We are happy to see that the technologies, we developed are being commercialised. These eco-friendly technologies can be developed into an alternative livelihood programme in the future,” Mr. Prabhu said.

Kudumbasree Assistant District Mission Coordinator N. Venugopal said that the project would be extended to all nine BRCs in the district soon.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Sam Paul A / Aryad(Alappuzha) – March 27th, 2018