As narrated by skilled Dr Lal Singh, Principal Scientist and Mission Chief at CSIR-NEERI. He specialises in ecological restoration, significantly utilizing bamboo for environmental rehabilitation of degraded lands resembling fly ash dumps, mining websites, and wastelands.

The interviews and reporting for this story had been carried out in July 2025.

There was a time when this land seemed just like the floor of the moon—gray, dry, and coated in thick layers of fly ash. Nothing might develop right here. The soil was weak, the air heavy with mud, and the bottom cracked underfoot. For years, individuals believed these areas round Koradi, Khaparkheda, and Chandrapur Thermal Energy Stations in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha district had been past saving.

However right this moment, all the pieces has modified. The dusty floor is now coated with mushy inexperienced grass. Lengthy traces of bamboo vegetation, neem, karanj, and different native timber stretch so far as the attention can see. Some timber now stand as tall as buildings, their leaves rustling within the wind. The place there was as soon as silence and vacancy, there’s now shade, cool air, and the sound of birds returning.

 

This transformation didn’t occur by chance. It’s the results of years of cautious work by the scientists on the Nationwide Environmental Engineering Analysis Institute (CSIR-NEERI). They created a particular technique known as Eco-Rejuvenation Know-how (ERT)—a easy however highly effective course of to deliver life again to broken and polluted land.

The thought was not simply to plant timber, however to heal the soil first. The group handled the land with pure supplies to enhance its high quality, planted native timber that would survive in robust circumstances, and slowly constructed a inexperienced cowl that would stand sturdy even in dry climate.

The aim was clear: to indicate that land polluted by fly ash from energy vegetation doesn’t have to remain lifeless. It may be introduced again to life with the best care, science, and endurance.

The Higher India spoke to Dr Lal Singh, Principal Scientist and Mission Chief at CSIR-NEERI, who shared how this technique is now giving hope to many extra locations throughout the nation which might be combating polluted land.

From wastelands to farmlands: How one scientist sparked a robust inexperienced revolution

What started as a easy task quickly turned a life’s mission for Dr Lal Singh. When he first joined CSIR in 2013, he was solely making an attempt to show himself to his seniors. However what adopted modified the course of his profession—and the lives of hundreds.

“I used to be assigned to transform a uranium tailing pond in Jharkhand again in 2006. That’s once I joined CSIR. We adopted the bamboo plantation technique to eradicate the water and land air pollution within the website, and it labored. This was my first mission, and there was no trying again,” Singh shares with The Higher India. 

The success of this primary try planted a seed in him—if a lifeless, polluted pond might be revived, what else might be introduced again to life?

 

In 2013, Dr Singh confronted an even bigger problem. He was requested to transform degraded, fly ash-laden land close to Nagpur in Maharashtra into one thing helpful for farming. “This was my first mission within the state. I used to be given Ubagi and Khapari villages in Maharashtra. They’re 24 kms away from Nagpur. I labored on a 10-hectare polluted wasteland and in two years it was rejuvenated and in 4 years it was prepared for crop cultivation,” he says.

Step-by-step, mission by mission, Dr Singh and his group proved that barren, broken lands might be saved. This was no fast repair—it took years of planting, soil care, and affected person statement. However every patch of inexperienced made it attainable for native farmers to return, develop meals, and construct more healthy lives.

What began as a technical experiment has quietly grown right into a motion—a inexperienced revolution that not solely cleans the land but in addition restores livelihoods. For Dr Singh, this work is not only a job. It’s a mission to guarantee that polluted, forgotten locations will be changed into properties for timber, crops, and folks as soon as once more.

Fly ash, forgotten lands, and the villages that paid the worth

For years, the villages close to the thermal energy vegetation in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha district lived below a cloud—fairly actually. Fly ash from the facility vegetation settled on their crops, crammed their air, and polluted their water. The land, as soon as wealthy and alive, slowly changed into a dumping floor.

“It’s been seven years for the reason that individuals belonging to adjoining villages forgot concerning the fly ash drawback, the air, soil, and water air pollution it brought about. All due to the eco rejuvenation mission,” says Dr Lal Singh in dialog with the Higher India. 

Fly ash, a effective powdery waste launched from burning coal, was dumped into low-lying areas close to the facility vegetation. These tailing ponds turned giant pits of poisonous waste. Over time, the ash didn’t simply keep within the ponds—it blew over the fields, settled on crops, combined into the water, and crammed the air individuals breathed.

“Because of the fly ash drawback, farmers’ productiveness was diminished drastically because the fly ash settled on their crops. Ladies had no livelihood, and everybody within the close by villages breathed unhealthy air. The group determined to eradicate all the issues and started to rejuvenate dump websites,” Dr Lal Singh explains, his voice carrying the load of what these villages had suffered.

The harm was not simply to the land—it affected total communities. Crops failed, incomes dried up, and clear air turned a luxurious. However turning issues round wasn’t easy.

“Clearing the lands for bamboo cultivation was the most important problem of all,” Dr Singh shares. The soil was weak, the waste was thick, and making ready the bottom for brand spanking new life demanded relentless effort.

But, regardless of these obstacles, Dr Singh and his group pushed ahead—step-by-step, tree by tree—exhibiting that even probably the most forgotten lands might be introduced again to life.

How rejuvenated lands introduced new life to farmers and ladies

For years, farmers in these villages struggled to develop their crops. The fly ash from close by energy vegetation settled on their fields, coating pulses, cotton, and soya with a effective layer of mud. Their harvests shrank, their incomes disappeared, and their hope slowly pale.

 

“The fly ash has a part known as ‘silica’ which often settles on the crops. This lower down the productiveness of the crops. Bamboo is a plant that pulls silica, and this helps in ensuring crops should not affected because the bamboo websites appeal to many of the silica within the air,” explains Dr Lal Singh, sharing the easy however highly effective science behind the answer.

By planting bamboo, they weren’t simply including greenery—they had been making a pure protect, a silent protector that may pull silica out of the air and away from the crops. Slowly, the air grew cleaner, the soil stronger, and the village lives started to shift.

“It’s been seven years since we’ve had this inexperienced belt and we’re lucky to breathe clear air right this moment,” says Pranali Sahara, a resident of Koradi Nahadula, a village simply 10 km from the dump website. Pranali, a single mom of two, by no means imagined this lifeless land might change into a place of business and delight.

“I’ve labored right here for the final seven years. We by no means thought this place would rework like this. As we speak we’ve clear air, water, and wholesome soil. I’m the one one who earns in my household, and I additionally bought a job due to this mission,” she shares with a smile that carries each gratitude and quiet power. Pranali now earns Rs 5000 a month tending to the bamboo plantation, caring for the location that has, in some ways, cared for her in return.

Dr Singh provides, “From cleansing the land to watering the bamboo timber and taking good care of the location, we’ve 20 girls employed. All these girls are employed on a three-year contract.”

 

Amongst them is Geeta Chauhan, one other mom from the identical village. With two kids relying on her, Geeta says the chance got here when she wanted it most. “It has been six years since I’ve labored on the website, and this job was created due to this mission. I can earn and help my household now. We additionally really feel blessed to breathe clear air and drink water that’s not polluted,” she says.

For girls like Pranali and Geeta, this mission is greater than only a inexperienced belt. It’s a lifeline—a spot that gave them again their dignity, their well being, and their capability to offer for his or her households.

What as soon as was written off as ineffective land is now a residing, respiration house the place girls work, crops develop, and kids play within the contemporary air—proof that when science and group come collectively, even probably the most damaged locations can bloom once more.

How ERT Works: Science Behind the Inexperienced Transformation

The Eco-Rejuvenation Know-how is an eco-friendly, cost-effective answer developed by CSIR-NEERI (Council of Scientific and Industrial Analysis – Nationwide Environmental Engineering Analysis Institute). It was designed to revive and rejuvenate degraded or contaminated lands, significantly these affected by fly ash, heavy metals, or industrial waste.

 

Dr Lal Singh explains that there are 5 parameters earlier than adopting the ERT to rejuvenate degraded land. Based on the scientist:

• Choice of the degraded space with the supply of contaminants.
• Screening and number of tolerant plant species.
• Software of desired microbial inoculants. 
• Modification with natural substances, and
• Software of desired fungal inoculants. 

“After these parameters are accessed, we decide the bamboo sapling to be cultivated on the contaminated land,” provides Dr Singh. 

Stating that choosing the bamboo sapling is an important course of, Dr Singh says that selecting a species of bamboo that consumes much less water is vital, as most elements of Maharashtra face water shortage. “I often choose a plant that’s cost-friendly and has a excessive leaf persistence worth. A leaf with a excessive leaf persistence worth doesn’t wither away simply. The sapling also needs to be fast-growing and mitigate mud,” the scientist provides. 

Taking the inexperienced revolution past Maharashtra

After respiration life again into the dusty lands of Maharashtra’s Vidarbha area, Dr Lal Singh and his group should not stopping. The success right here has change into a place to begin—a blueprint for therapeutic damaged lands throughout India.

Their subsequent mission takes them to Odisha, the place the land tells a unique story of injury. “A website in Odisha, which is polluted due to phosphorus ore, is our subsequent goal. We plan to implement ERT with bamboo saplings,” Dr Singh shares.

 

The problem in Odisha is simply as pressing. Phosphorus ore has left behind poisoned soil and broken ecosystems. However Dr Singh’s group is hopeful that the identical bamboo-led answer, which labored wonders in Maharashtra, can deliver contemporary air and inexperienced life to this forgotten house.

They usually’re already trying additional. In Uttar Pradesh’s Anpara, the group has recognized one other space in bother—one the place fly ash is now threatening not simply the land, however a close-by water reservoir that native communities depend on.

“After Odisha, our group will work on lands in Uttar Pradesh’s Anpara, which is below the fly ash menace and is affecting a water reservoir. We plan to develop a inexperienced belt round Anpara to guard the reservoir and forestall water air pollution,” he provides.

This isn’t nearly cleansing up air pollution—it’s about defending water, rebuilding land, and creating secure areas for households and farmers who dwell round these contaminated areas. Dr Singh’s imaginative and prescient now stretches far past Maharashtra, carrying the hope that what labored right here can encourage change throughout the nation.

Every mission is a step in direction of proving a easy however highly effective concept: no land is past saving.

(All pictures courtesy: Dr Lal Singh)