BENGALURU: The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which treats 1,348.5 MLD of waste water from its 34 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), is all set to operationalise 26 more STPs by December this year. With this, it will treat 470 MLD of water.
BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasat Manohar said the STP work is ongoing at various stages. In an exclusive interview, he told TNIE that the aim is to treat the entire 2,255 MLD of waste water generated in Bengaluru.
“All the existing STPs are running well. The central government too has recognised this and given a five-star rating for 23 STPs. The rest are under the four-star and three-star category. The board has received an incentive of Rs 103 crore from the Union government to run STPs effectively. Because of the quality of treatment at STPs, we can convince customers like IT parks to use treated water. The waste is also used for commercial cleaning and construction purposes,” he said.
BWSSB has become a national model for releasing treated water into lakes. It can tap 80% of treated water to fill lakes, he added. “In and around the city, we release 800 MLD of treated water into lakes and this helps in groundwater recharge around the water body. The treated water is also used in Cubbon Park, Raj Bhavan and other government establishments,” he said.
As cases of unauthorised underground drainage connections were reported from parts of Bengaluru, BWSSB penalised the offenders and collected Rs 108 crore in fines. The board regularised 471 unauthorised commercial connections and connections from apartment complexes and other places. BWSSB also regularised 40,000 unauthorised drinking water connections and it is a continuous process, he added.