ROURKELA: After years of wait, the much-hyped Integrated Sewerage System (ISS) at a whopping cost of `340.19 crore for Rourkel City is finally becoming a reality. Although the underground sewerage system is an independent component under Smart City project with separate fund allotment by the Central and State governments, it has been given priority after the city was selected under the mission in September 2016.
The Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) as nodal agency is executing the mega project through construction and engineering giant L&T.The sewerage line laying works have begun at Revenue Colony of Uditnagar, Basanti Colony and Tarkera while excavation works are underway for the largest Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP)-III of 40 Million Liters per Day (MLD) over 24.75 acres at Balughat here.
OWSSB Project Engineer Karunakar Ghadei informed that while `298.19 crore has been earmarked for construction work, `26.75 crore will be used for operation and maintenance cost for five years and energy consumption cost would be `15.25 crore. The STP-I of eight MLD would come up on 4.35 acres of RSP land at Koelnagar, he added.
Ghadei said all three sewerage pumping stations (SPSs) would come up at Koelnagar, Jhirpani and Jagda under East Zone and four SPSs would be set up near Sector-21, Power House Road, Pradhanpali and Tarkera under West Zone. The 231-km sewerage line would cover about 30,000 households. While the project completion target is January 2020, 10 km would be completed in a month, he added.
OWSSB Deputy Project Engineer Birendra Nandi said the STPs will have Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) technology to keep Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) of treated water to below 5mg/liter. He said household effluent water through branch, main and trunk sewer lines would finally reach the STP for treatment.
However, smooth run of the project seems under cloud as the RSP has not yet given land clearance for the STP-I at Koelnagar and SPSs near Sector-21 and Tarkera. Moreover, a section of tribal people citing land disputes with RSP is opposing the project on RSP land. Incidentally, proposal for STP-II of nearly nine MLD at Bondamunda has been dropped after the South Eastern Railway refused to give land clearance.
Rourkela Municipal Commissioner AK Mallick said the underground sewerage project is a pressing necessity for the city and there is no justification to oppose it. About 40,000 households would be connected to the underground sewerage system, he informed.