Equipment to trace pesticide in canal water installed

Bhimavaram: High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipment was set up at the Water, Environment and Technology (WET) Research Centre on the premises of the SRKR Engineering College to detect the residues in the water of the Godavari canals, said college principal Dr M Jagapati Raju.

On Thursday, college secretary and correspondent Sagi Vithal Rangaraju inaugurated the equipment.

The college WET research centre in-charge and dean of the research and development Dr PA Ramakrishnam Raju said the under EU-India project, director of Biotechnology under the ministry of Science and Technology has provided the grant for procuring the HPLC equipment worth Rs 25 lakh.

SRKR Engineering College has been engaged in research activities in a collaborative project with the European countries and the Indian IITs at an estimated cost of Rs 31.5 crore in the name of SPRING- 2020. As part of the project, the SRKR Engineering College received Rs 1.1 crore. In addition, the director of Biotechnology of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology is providing funding to research institutes in India of Rs 6.1 crore.

Ramakrishnam Raju said that this equipment helps to identify even the minutest traces of pesticides and chemical residues in water in the region in the backdrop of unknown illness in Eluru.

Civil Engineering head Dr A Subrahamanyam Raju, WET centre professors, Dr Seetaramireddy, Dr KM Ganesh, Dr T Rambabu, Dr Suri Babu, Jeevan, N Kisan and others participated in the programme.