All three Muktsar STPs lying defunct
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, September 2
All three sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Muktsar town are lying defunct for the past about four years due to technical reasons and paucity of funds.
The Water Supply and Sanitation Department had last month transferred these three STPs of 8.7 MLD (million litres per day), 5.7 MLD and 3.5 MLD capacity, respectively, to the Water Supply and Sewerage Board. However, it requires nearly Rs 10 crore to repair and run these plants for the next five years.
Funds sought
We took over the three STPs last month and have sought funds worth Rs10 crore to carry out the repairs and run these for the next five years. —Rakesh Mohan Makkar, Water supply & Sewerage board site engineer
Recently, a high-powered monitoring team of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) too had visited the town and asked the administration to investigate the reasons why these STPs were lying defunct. Water Supply and Sewerage Board site engineer Rakesh Mohan Makkar said, “We took over the three STPs last month and have sought funds worth Rs 10 crore to carry out the repairs and run these for the next five years.”
At present, untreated sewage is direct being dumped into the drains, which further fall into the Sutlej. Residents of neighbouring Fazilka district have often complained about this. Earlier, the Water Supply and Sanitation Department had sent a proposal to the state government to carry out the repair works under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transmission, which, however, could not happen to date.
