Building Pune: PMC to double sewage treatment capacity to ensure clean water discharge to Mula-Mutha river

Once all the new plants become operational, the sewage treatment capacity would almost double from the existing 576 MLD to 1,125 MLD, officials said.

The civic body has decided to double its sewage treatment capacity by increasing the number of sewage treatment plants (STP) from 10 to 29 in the coming years.

Written by: Ajay Jadhav

3 min readPuneJun 22, 2023 12:13 PM IST First published on: Jun 22, 2023 at 12:13 PM IST

After coming under fire for its anti-environmental approach in the Mula-Mutha riverfront beautification project, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has now decided to focus on improving the quality of river water so that no sewage water is released into the waterbody without being treated. For this, the civic body has decided to double its sewage treatment capacity by increasing the number of sewage treatment plants (STP) from 10 to 29 in the coming years.

Once all the new plants become operational, the treatment capacity would almost double from the existing 576 MLD to 1,125 MLD, officials said.

The PMC will soon reconstruct one of the existing 10 STPs and set up another 11 STPs having a total capacity of 396 MLD through the funding from Japan International Cooperative Agency (JICA). It has also planned to construct two new STPs for the 11 villages that merged with the civic body a few years ago. A detailed project report for constructing additional seven STPs for catering to the needs of 23 villages merged in civic limits two years ago has also been finalised, said a PMC official. Thus, the total number of STPs in the city would go up to 29 in the coming years.

“The PMC has now focused on ensuring the river has clean water. This will be taken up along with the riverfront development project. The construction of 11 STPs through JICA funds has been started and plans for increasing the number of STPs to cater for the future need has been done,” said municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar.

The PMC is in talks with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to get loan for the new seven STPs for 23 villages, he said. According to the detailed project report (DPR), there will be seven STPs with two in Wagholi, one each in Mundhwa, Pisoli, Nanded, Holkarwadi and Manjari Budhruk having a total capacity of 146.50 MLD. The PMC will also lay a drainage line network of 841.44 km under the plants. “The total cost of the project is Rs 1,270 crore and we are hopeful of raising the money through a loan from IFC,” said a civic body officer

In 2017, 11 new villages were merged with the city and the PMC prepared a plan for the sewage treatment for the area under which it will be constructing two new plants – one each in Keshavnagar and Manjari – having a total capacity of 105.5 MLD. “They will be constructed from the PMC’s budget funds so that the work would soon start,” said Jagdish Khanore, PMC Superintendent Engineer.

He said that the work on 11 new STPs under JICA funds has started and will be completed by March 2025 as per the new deadline. “The project got delayed due to technical issues but finally it is back on track. The project cost has increased from Rs 990 crore to Rs 1,173 crore and an additional Rs 250 crore for its operation and maintenance for the next 15 years,” Khanore pointed out.

As per the plan, the river beautification project would beautify the 44 km of the Mula-Mutha river stretch passing through the Pune city limits. The project will include continuous access with pathways for walking and cycling, 16 new boating facilities, doubling the ghats to 40, and increasing the number of eateries.

Ajay Jadhav

Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor at The Indian... Read More

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