Ludhiana: 56 months after laying of stone, STP yet to start operations

The sewage treatment plant, constructed at cost of Rs 8 crore, meant to link the disposal tanks with the Maherna drain, is yet to be inaugurated even after 56 months of laying of its foundation stone.

President, municipal council, and Aam Aadmi Party leader Vikas Krishan Sharma has gone all out to get the process for constructing of about 1.5 km-long pipeline expedited, so that legislator Jaswant Singh Gajanmajra could be invited to inaugurate the plant during the ensuing term.

The foundation stone for the project was jointly laid by then Congress MLA Surjit Singh Dhiman and Fatehgarh Sahib MP Amar Singh Boparai on December 4, 2020. Suraaj Mohammad was the president of the municipal council then. Over a decade ago during the SAD-BJP regime in March 2015, the second woman president of the MC, Paramjit Kaur Jassal, had initiated the process for installation of an STP on Dehliz Road.

Now, after over 56 months of laying the foundation stone of the dream project of SAD president (2015), the commissioning of the STP is yet to be announced during the Aam Aadmi Party regime, whereas work has almost been completed.

Residents of low-lying localities of the town had seen a ray of hope for resolution of overflowing sewage as work on setting up of the equipment to be installed at a cost of Rs 8 crore was expedited after Vikas took over the charge of the MC as president around a year ago.

Clearing choked sewers and managing overflowing water had remained the biggest challenge to the civic body since the constitution of the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state over 40 months ago.

Undue delay in the election of an Aam Aadmi Party-supported regular president of the MC further emerged as a major factor behind the situation, owing to which residents of low-lying localities failed to enjoy a dignified life in an unhygienic environment.

Unlike normal times when overflowing sewerage is handled periodically by workers of the Sanitary Department in their beats, supervisory staff had to ensure that pipelines and manholes were cleared by specially constituted teams.

The district administration had taken notice of the undue delay in the completion of work on the project and ADC (D) Sukhpreet Singh Sidhu had been visiting the plant to expedite the process for giving final touches to the plant and machinery often.

President of the MC has said that the plant had already been put on testing mode and would soon be dedicated to the people after the disposal tanks were connected with the Maherna drain by construction of a pipeline measuring about 1.5 km. “We have almost completed the process for inviting tenders for the construction of the pipeline and work will be started soon after seeking technical approval from the higher authorities,” said Sharma.

Rectifying overflowing sewers has remained a challenge for the civic body for a long time. Rainy season and winter has been compounding the problems of residents living in low-lying areas as they have to wade through stagnant cold and stinking water frequently.

Residents alleged that defective layout of sewers and lackluster attitude of the authorities concerned had resulted in a situation where certain areas remained submerged due to frequent overflow of sewage in the past. Failure of the administration to ban use of plastic bags was identified as a major reason behind blocking of sewers and pipelines.

The project will function on the sequential batch reactor process mechanism. The capacity of the plant is reported to be 5 million lt daily and is expected to cater to the needs of the town till the population reaches one lakh.

wuw