Dr. Sanjay Pal, Associate Professor, Sanitation Biotechnology Lab, School of Biotechnology, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri Campus, was invited to deliver a talk titled, “Biocontrol of Infection and Smell in Wastewater for Use in Agriculture and Aquaculture” at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Knowledge’s Conclave on “Designing and Implementing Affordable and Sustainable Sanitation for All”, organized by the Centre for Science and Education, held on the beautiful campus of CSE’s Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute in Nimli, Rajasthan, on April 4, 2019.

In his talk, Dr. Pal emphasized that traditional, large and centralized effluent/sewage treatment plants (ETP/STP) are proving to be un-sustainable from both economical and environmental perspectives, particularly with respect to the recent findings of the breeding and spreading of antimicrobial resistance in centralized treatment plants. He suggested that decentralized sanitation systems with biocontrol strategies are most appropriate for both developed and developing nations. He showcased Amrita Sanitation Lab’s various projects on application of bacteriophages and other biocontrol strategies in different contexts of sanitation to address foul smell and enteric pathogens in the wastewater.