Year on, STP still releasing untreated water in Kali Bein

KAPURTHALA: Though the state government has started cleanliness of Kali Bein, ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, to be celebrated in 2019, but due to non-functional sewage treatment plant (STP) here, the untreated discharge is still polluting the Bein. The state government had launched the cleanliness drive two weeks ago.

During a visit to the STP, it was found, out of seven machines to treat the sewage water, only three are functional.

The pipes and plates of all the machines are old, thereby failing to serve their purpose.

Sources said, “Besides poor maintenance, the STP is also facing staff crunch.Out of total 25 sanctioned posts, only 14 are posted here. Among them seven have been working in the municipal corporation office for past six months.”

Recently, irrigation minister and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh had expressed concern over the pitiable condition of the rivulet and directed the officials to clean it before 2019.

Environmentalist and Padma Shri awardee Balbir Singh Seechewal had also taken up the matter with state government and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) of non-functional STP in Kapurthala in recent months. But to no avail.

Kapurthala DC Mohammad Tayyab said, “This is an old technology project. We have sent the file to the state government for setting up a new STP with the latest technology. I will ask the sewerage department to repair the non-functional machines till the time the issue is resolved.”

MC executive officer Kulbhushan Gupta could not be reached for comments.

The plant is being run by Kapurthala municipal council (MC). The STP was installed about a decade ago with a capacity of treating 25 million litre discharges per day. But citing fund shortage, MC has not run the STP properly for over one year now. Also, due to the lackadaisical attitude of the state government and local administration, the unchecked growth of weeds and accretion of garbage has made Kali Bein a cesspool.