A group of people including experts and officials says that the Rs 6 crore pipe-laying project is a waste of money and that the KMCH can manage without it. Instead of discharging the treated water to Canoli Canal, it can be used for non-potable purposes in the hospital itself, according to them. “In foreign countries and in cities such as Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai, water treated in STPs is used for nonpotable purposes. All you need is an STP having capacity in accordance with the quantity of water to be treated. "STP’s are of three kinds-primary, secondary and tertiary.
The water treated in a tertiary plant can be used for non-potable purposes as bathing, washing or at least for watering the plants,” said Suresh Hebikal, STP expert from Bengaluru. The irony is that even after two years of STP’s installation, the hospital authorities are still clueless about the technical side of these. When asked about the capacity and type of the STP’s installed at KMCH, K P Kuttan, Health Supervisor at KMCH, said, “I have no clue about it; you better contact principal regarding this.” We contacted the principal, only to hear the same!