ROURKELA: Even as the unprecedented diarrhoea outbreak in Rourkela city has raised fresh concerns about the safety and quality of piped water sourced from Brahmani and its tributary Koel, efforts to contain river water pollution seem to have not yielded the desired results.
The much-hyped underground integrated sewerage system (ISS) seemingly has made little difference with the proposed sewage treatment plant (STP)-1 at Koelnagar and STP-2 at Bondamunda yet to take off. The STP-3 at Balughat has been completed but could only be connected to a mere 13 per cent of households. Reliable sources said the STP-2 for Bondamunda having a capacity of nine MLDs was originally included in the detailed project report (DPR). But it was dropped from the ISS before tender due to land issue.
In 2017, the tender was finalised for STP-1 (eight MLD capacity) and STP-3 (40 MLD) with 231 km of sewerage lines at a cost of around Rs 340.19 crore. During project execution, the STP-1 rained into land trouble. The then Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) removed STP-1 and 46.4 km of sewerage lines for Koelnagar catchment areas.
As of now, the households in the Koelnagar area are connected to the old sewerage lines of the Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC). The sewage water accumulates in a large septic tank and is finally taken to a newly constructed 40,000-litre capacity septage treatment plant in cesspool vehicles. The rest of the household wastewater finds its way to the Koel River through drains. The same is true for the Bondamunda area.
Similarly, the STP-3 with around 185 km of sewer lines was expected to connect 12,000 households after inauguration by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in February 2021. But so far, only 1,550 households could be connected. To make matters worse, a separate STP project of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) for its industrial township with a capacity of 30 MLD at Sector-14 has run into trouble due to a land dispute.
General Manager for WATCO sewerage division BK Dakua said efforts are underway to increase household connection which depends on people’s economic feasibility and awareness. WATCO has no role in enforcement, he said.
In August 2018, the Sundargarh administration issued an advisory for villagers of Gurundia, Bonai and Lahunipada blocks asking them not to consume the water of Brahmani after a warning from the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) about the presence of high Total Coliform (TC) bacteria in downstream of the river.