Do you know that the sewage water from various cities and towns in the state contribute to nearly 40 per cent of water contamination?
According to the Pollution Control Board, the waste water from our cities and towns, pollute the water bodies affecting the public health. In comparison industrial pollutants are causing water pollution up to 20 per cent.
Though the Water Act 1974 states that sewage water should be released into water bodies only after being treated several municipalities and municipal corporations are not following the rule.
If the treated waste water gets released into water bodies, it will be equal to the recipient standards. It means that it equals to the quality of the water in the water body in which it is being released.
Waste water treatment is not being done before they are released into the water bodies like tanks, streams and rivers. Further it may also pollute ground waters, when released into open areas on the outskirts of towns and cities.
According to experts, a major portion of waste water from cities and towns end up in rivers like Krishna, Godavari and their tributaries. Kurnool one of the major municipal corporations has a population of over five lakh and there are more than 1.2 lakh houses.The sewage from these houses is let out into Handri, Tungabhadra rivers and KC Canal without being treated.
Kurnool municipal officials said they had sent a proposal for underground drainage and waste water treatment plants to the government in 2007, but there has been no response. The cost of the project at that time was Rs 150 crore and now it has increased to Rs 450 crore.
The situation is similar with most municipal bodies in the state.
‘’Drainage system in a majority of urban local bodies is pathetic. Most of them are open drains and the underground drainage system taken up in cities like Visakhapatnam and Tirupati are still in progress.
These places have a very few water treatment plants, out of which some are defunct,’’ a higher official in municipal administration and urban development ministry said.
According to sources, on an average, 11,500 million tonnes of sewage water is generated in the state and hardly 10 per cent of it is treated before being released into water bodies.