Soon the residents of Varanasi will be able to get pure drinking water from the polluted river Ganga, which is filthy and unhealthy even for a dip.

Sulabh International is claiming to provide its new innovation at Asi ghat of the temple town in next three months.

“The proposed plant will provide 8,000 litre of pure drinking water daily. The plant would be established within next three months time. Sulabh has already established such plants at North 24-Parganas, Murshidabad and Nadia districts of West Bengal,” Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak said in a press meet in Varanasi on Wednesday.

Using its recently developed technology, Sulabh claimed that the water thus treated will be available at 50 paise per litre, including distribution and storing charges, which is cheapest in the world.

The total cost of setting up the plant will be Rs 20 lakh which will be funded by Sulabh itself. Pathak and his team are in Varanasi to initiate the process.

The water purification technology, developed by the NGO has already been tested in Cambodia and Madagascar but is being used on a larger scale in rural West Bengal.

The model uses a four-stage purification process using alum and UV filter to produce clean and safe drinking water from river Ganga.

The technology is a joint venture of Sulabh and a French organisation '1001 Fontaines', which through various stages of purification provide safe drinking water from any water bodies like rivers or ponds.

 "This is the first time in the world that we have succeeded in producing pure drinking water at a very nominal cost by this new technology and commoners may get direct benefit," Pathak said.

“We will soon seek permission from authorities concerned for settings up of the plant. It's not a commercial venture.”

In Varanasi, the Ganga takes care of about 45% of the water supply of the city, while 50% of the city’s water needs are met by 112 deep tube wells operated by government. The remaining 5% supply comes from hand pumps.

The stretch of the river from Kanpur to Varanasi is extremely polluted. Pollutants like lead, cadmium, nitrate and arsenic are found in the river and are extremely harmful for people living on its banks.