The city’s urban centres, including the realty booming Serilingampalli, which were once satellite municipalities will get better at managing their sewerage the coming year. On January 10, 12 erstwhile municipalities which are currently part of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) are expected to be linked to sewerage treatment plants which will treat their septic tank waste effectively.
Unlike the core city of Hyderabad which has sewerage networks linked to treatment plants, the former municipalities are mostly dependent on septic tanks for disposal of faecal sludge. In localities where commercial establishments, including star hotels have come up, waste from septic tanks was being disposed of by private operators, most of whom are unlicensed.
As per the plan laid out by Hyderabad Water Supplies and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) and Administrative Staff College of India-Hyderabad (ASCI) the tankers carrying waste from erstwhile municipalities will not be allowed to dispose of the faecal sludge in water bodies or open plots. The sludge has to be transported to the nearest STP for treatment. There are 18 such treatment plants in the city.
According to officials who have been working on effective treatment of waste, the new policy will help reduce chances of water and soil pollution in the area. “As sewerage in these 12 localities are not linked to underground sewerage pipelines, the sludge which accumulates in septic tanks of commercial and residential complexes have become a matter of environmental concern. Pollution of Musi is also linked to lack of mechanisms for disposal of faecal sludge in these areas. Contractors have been dumping waste into the river for decades,” said V. Srinivas Chary, director of Urban governance, ASCI-Hyderabad. With the support of State governments ASCI has been working towards laying out an effective plan for managing faecal sludge across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Hyderabad’s water board has also been expanding the sewerage network to benefit residents of all parts of the city. This year, the board laid sewers in several areas within GHMC limits to better expand the waste disposal network. The board is also planning to link the existing sewer lines to the newly laid ones to better manage waste, officials said.
