BENGALURU: The discharge of sewage directly into lakes will be curtailed in a big way in the future as the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has chalked out plans to ensure all the sewage generated in the city gets treated.
In connection with this, it has now proposed the setting up of six new Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). This will be an addition to the 10 STPs for which work is going on presently.
Speaking to Express, BWSSB chairperson Anjum Parwez said that the six STPs will have the capacity to treat 500 Million Litres Per Day (MLD) of sewage water. “The setting up of two of these plants at Hebbal and Vrishabhavati Valley have been okayed in the latest Board meeting,” he said.
3 years to finish
The final Detailed Project Report is being readied for the other four plants. This is likely to be okayed in the next Board meeting, Parwez said. “It will take us three years to complete all of them. So, by June 2018, these STPs will become functional,” the Chairperson said.
Work on 10 other STPs, construction of which began in various months between 2010 and 2011, will be completed by end of 2015, he said. “When completed, they will be able to handle 339 MLD of sewage water,” he added.
An estimated 1,500 MLD of sewage is being discharged by residents of Bengaluru daily. “The total capacity of existing STPs of the water supply board is only 721 MLD,” he said.
Hence, the remaining sewage gets discharged into other water bodies polluting them.
When the ongoing and proposed STPs are in place, Bengaluru’s entire sewage can be treated at the plants. “We are now working on setting right all the missing links in connection with the STPs,” Parwez added.
Putting it to Use
Presently, 140 MLD of the treated water is put to good use. The power generation plant at Yelahanka run by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited is provided with 40 MLD of water for non-potable purposes. A similar quantity is being supplied to the KIADB industrial area near Devanahalli. A quantum of 60 MLD is also being supplied to industries in Narasapur, Vijpur and Mallur. “The treated water is being supplied at a cost of `15 per kilolitre presently,” he said.
To tackle water shortage in Kolar and Dodaballapur, the Minor Irrigation Department is also contemplating supplying 600 to 700 MLD of treated water to those areas. “When that happens, all the sewage water that will be treated by BWSSB presently will get fully utilised,” the chairperson said.