All three STPs in Muktsar lying defunct

Tribune News Service

Archit Watts

Muktsar, January 3

Despite the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) guidelines, all the three sewage treatment plants (STP) in Muktsar have been lying non-functional for more than five years and untreated water is being discharged into drains.

This contaminated water is being used for irrigation purposes as well.

Notably, the Water Supply and Sewerage Board had taken over these three STPs having capacity of 8.7 MLD (million litres per day), 5.7 MLD and 3.5 MLD in June 2021 from the Water Supply and Sanitation Department.

These STPs are to be repaired under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) project and tenders have been floated nine times as of now. According to sources, no company applied for the tenders for the first eight times and when a company from Gujarat applied, it could not fulfil the conditions. As a result, the repair work could not begin and the untreated water is being discharged into the Chandbhan

drain and some of its subsidiaries, which eventually go into the Sutlej.

Reportedly, some farmers have been using the untreated water to grow vegetables and green fodder, and residents have raised this issue with the district administration but no action is taken in this regard.

The National Consumer Awareness Group has also written letters to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, requesting that this hazardous practice be stopped at the earliest.

Notably, in January 2020, the state monitoring committee of the NGT had directed the authorities concerned to stop the environmentally hazardous practice of discharging untreated municipal waste into drains. However, no accountability has been fixed till date for the lapse in this regard.

Rakesh Mohan Makkar, Site Engineer, Water Supply and Sewerage Board, said, “The STPs are currently non-functional. However, sincere efforts are being made to repair these under the AMRUT project. Almost Rs 9 crore will be spent for the special repair, and to operate and maintain these STPs for the next five years. Some technical conditions are now being revised and hopefully the work will begin soon. Presently, the untreated water is being discharged into Chandbhan drain and some of its subsidiaries.”

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#Environment #Muktsar #National Green Tribunal NGT