Cleansing rivers isn’t any simple activity. For many years, activists, environmentalists, and policymakers have struggled to revive India’s lifelines just like the Ganga and Yamuna. Industrial waste, untreated sewage, plastic air pollution, and even discarded flowers choke these water our bodies.

But, amid failed campaigns and bold guarantees, a brand new wave of younger innovators is stepping in with daring, sensible options.

On 22 September 2025, World Rivers Day, we at The Higher India need to present our readers how 5 startups are reimagining river clean-up in India.

1) Robots on the water

On the coronary heart of Delhi, Omnipresent Robotic Tech Pvt Ltd, based by Aakash Sinha, has created the Ro-Boat — a robotic that may work around the clock, scooping up sludge and pollution from rivers.

Piloted within the Yamuna and Ganga underneath the Ganga Motion Plan, the Ro-Boat can acquire almost 600 kg of waste every day, or about 200 tonnes a 12 months. Its solar-powered design, twin-propeller engine, and robotic arms enable it to dive beneath the floor to retrieve settled waste. This innovation might rework river cleansing by combining autonomy with effectivity.

2) Turning flowers into hope

On daily basis, tonnes of flowers supplied in temples and mosques find yourself in rivers, usually laced with pesticides. In 2015, Ankit Agrawal and Karan Rastogi determined to alter this.

Their startup, Assist Us Inexperienced, collects floral waste from Varanasi and Kanpur, repurposing it into incense sticks, havan merchandise, and vermicompost.

By doing so, they forestall almost 10 tonnes of waste from coming into the Ganga every day. Past cleansing, their mannequin uplifts communities — particularly rural ladies, who now earn livelihoods crafting incense, whereas former beggars acquire floral waste with dignity.

3) Stopping leaks earlier than they unfold

Oil spills silently poison rivers, usually going unnoticed till it’s too late. At IIT Madras, a gaggle of scholars led by Daniel Raj David constructed GUMPS (Guided Ultrasonic Monitoring of Pipe Techniques) — a steady, real-time monitoring system that detects pipeline leakages.

Though shifting the undertaking from lab to business posed challenges, the know-how guarantees to save lots of aquatic life by alerting crops to leaks immediately. By securing very important oil and gasoline pipelines alongside riverbeds, Detect Applied sciences brings a layer of security important for shielding water ecosystems.

4) A student-led photo voltaic answer

In Kerala, 4 mechanical engineering college students — Eldho Sunny, Jerin Paul V Shajan, KR Jinu Raj, and Amal Prasannan — designed a solar-powered floating machine able to scooping out plastic and weeds similar to salvinia.

Operated remotely by way of smartphone, it combines the design of a ship with the operate of an excavator. Constructed on a modest funds of Rs 1.5 lakh, the prototype was efficiently examined on the Muvattupuzha River. With photo voltaic vitality driving it, the gadget cleans with out polluting. Their imaginative and prescient? For civic our bodies to undertake the machine extensively to sort out the well being hazards linked to contaminated water our bodies.

5) Duckweed to the rescue

In Pune, marine biotechnologist Dr Prasanna Jogdeo based Lemnion Inexperienced Options, impressed by duckweed’s distinctive potential. This tiny floating plant doubles its biomass in days and absorbs vitamins from wastewater.

Lemnion has already rejuvenated greater than 30 polluted stretches of rivers and nullahs in Maharashtra utilizing duckweed-based phytoremediation. The eliminated biomass even serves as protein-rich manure. With tasks dealing with wastewater capacities of as much as 3,000 KLD, Lemnion exhibits how biology can complement know-how in restoring water high quality.

These startups showcase numerous however complementary approaches. What unites them is their vitality, group focus, and refusal to surrender on India’s rivers.

Edited by Vidya Gowri Venkatesh.