City’s sewerage disposal project lagging behind
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) carried out a feasibility study to improve and expand the 130-years-old sewerage system of the city in December 1999 and had said the project would be completed by 2025. However, the Mumbai Sewerage Disposal Project is experiencing delay as the Central government is yet to send a notification to the corporation regarding the exact standard for sewerage discharge. Sanjeev Mukherjee, the additional municipal commissioner of BMC, said, “We remind them (Centre) on a weekly basis to send us the new sewerage discharge standard notification, but we are yet to get a reply from their end.”
The discharge standard is set in the interest of the environment because the treated water from these STPs is directly released into the sea. Once notified, all the new STPs will have to meet fresh norms and existing treatment plants will get five years’ time to achieve it.
The STPs of seven zones, including Colaba, Worli, Bandra, Versova, Malad, Bhandup and Ghatkopar were taken for redevelopment after MSDP carried out a feasibility study in 1999.
However, the project which was expected to be completed by 2025 has failed to finish even 50 per cent of work. Out of the seven Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) only three STPs, namely Colaba, Vallabhanagar and Chinchpokli, have commenced. Tenders for Bhandup and Ghatkopar have been floated,” added Mukherjee.
The Centre changed the discharge standards in 2015.