Image used for representational purposes. (File Photo | EPS)
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Due to lack of proper sewerage network, the Muttathara sewage treatment plant which has a capacity to treat 107-million litres a day (MLD) uses only 37 per cent of its total capacity. As per the Corporation’s 2019-20 development plan, it aims to increase its capacity by connecting it to more sewerage networks from other wards. The civic body is also examining whether water obtained from the plant can be used for other purposes in the city.
The sewage plant is designed to meet city’s sewage disposal requirements in the coming years. The plant which has the capacity to handle 107 million litres a day (mld) currently handles 50 mld of sewage as the sewerage networks in the city are yet to be completed. The network expansion is being done by the Corporation under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project, with the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) being the implementing agency.
The fund for the project is being sanctioned under AMRUT. It has currently sanctioned `159 crore for the sewage network connections. This year the Corporation plans to include the areas in the city which lack drainage facility and connect it with the plant thereby increasing the plant’s capacity.
“Work on extending the main line network is in progress, adding that the network is currently being installed in Kazhakootam, Akkulam, Karumkulam, Kadakampally and kulathur. In continuation to these main networks if the sewerage connection is also completed then it could increase the capacity to 20 mld more. If the capacity of pumps kept at the pump house is increased then it will be able to achieve the 80mld capacity,” said a KWA officer.
The sewage network has been partially or fully completed only in 42 wards of the Corporation. The wards where the network connectivity has not yet started comes under the uncovered category. The plant had sewage coming in from only five blocks (A, B, C, D, and E) out of the 18 sewage blocks, which translates roughly into about only 40 per cent of the entire sewage load of the city.
Receiving station to treat septic waste
5lakh total houses in the city - of these, a mere 80,000 houses have sewage connection rest all have septic tank at their homes. The septage collected from the septic tanks will be treated along with the sewage after it is diluted at the receiving station using the water treated from the sewage treatment plant. The Corporation is working on a plan to implement projects to collect the septage waste from residence by licensed vehicles alone. The civic body believes this will help to prevent the practice of dumping septic waste in water bodies.
