
MADURAI: As damages and leakages in underground drainage (UGD) pipelines has led to over 60% drop in the amount of effluent pumped to sewage treatment plants (STP), with regard to the daily average of accumulated sewage, activists alleged that the remaining sewage is released into the canals of the city, thereby polluting the water bodies.
The Madurai city corporation consists of 100 wards, and a majority of the core areas have been connected with UGD systems, while pipeline works are yet to be carried out in the remaining areas. The effluent collected through the UGD lines are pumped to two STPs in Vellakkal and Sakkimangalam. However, UGD blockage and overflow continue to remain some of the major usual civic issues in the corporation, said activists seeking action.
According to ward 64 councillor-cum-activist M Raja, the Vellakkal and Sakkimangalam treatment plants encompass a capacity of 125 minimal liquid discharge (MLD) and 45 MLD, respectively. However, the amount of sewage pumped to these plants is just above 25 MLD, which is much lesser than the sewage accumulated on any regular day.
"The remaining sewage gets released into 13 canals, which runs through the city, polluting waterbodies including the Vaigai River. For instance, look at the incidents of foaming in Ayyanpappakudi Tank and the fish deaths at the Mariamman temple tank in Vandiyur," he said, and sought the corporation to take immediate action towards preventing such UGD issues.
Speaking to TNIE, activists pointed out that the UGD lines passing through the core areas of the city are decades-old and hence fail to cater the increased load. This, in turn, causes pumping difficulties leading to sewage overflow and logging issues. The corporation should develop future-centric plans to lay pipelines that could handle large effluent intake, they said.
When contacted, city corporation commissioner C Dinesh Kumar assured action, and said, "On a daily average, the city generates 70+ MLD sewage, and the effluent is pumped to the two STPs via 59 pumping stations. However, leakage and lack of proper direction have led to a drop in the amount of sewage pumped to the plants. As a temporary measure, suction machines are being used for clearing blockages. Action is under way to fix leakages by repairing damaged pipelines. Further, the TATA consultancy, which has been studying the UDG lines, will file a detailed report in the coming weeks. Accordingly, development work will be carried out."
Commenting on a long-term solution for the issue, Kumar added, "The installation work of the Online Effluent Control Management System (OECMS) is in the final stage, and it will allow the corporation to fully map the effluent movement in the UGD lines in the city. Also, based on the survey reports, development works will be carried out and the performance of the pumps will be improved to increase the effluent inflow to STPs to 100 MLD." He further advised people not to dump solid waste and kitchen wastes into the UGD lines, which often causes blockage issues.