Five sewage treatment plants (STP) have been proposed at the catchment areas of major canals running through the city even as four projects announced earlier are yet to take off.
The new plants, with a total installed capacity of 31 million litres per day (MLD), have been proposed at the catchment areas of Perandoor, Chilavannoor, Thevara Market and Edappally canals as part of the Integrated Water Transport System. Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) is implementing the projects.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had earlier asked local bodies to set up treatment facilities to prevent coastal pollution. The tribunal had also warned of penal action against civic bodies that failed to set up such plants and those found releasing untreated sewage into the sea and other waterbodies.
Though the Kochi Corporation had claimed that bids for a 6.5-MLD plant for the four wards in the Fort Kochi area and three others in three divisions of Eda Kochi had been floated, the projects are yet to be implemented.
A petition moved against the selection of the site for the Fort Kochi plant is pending before the Kerala High Court, said T.K. Ashraf, chairman of the town planning standing committee of the Kochi Corporation.
As regards proposals for the Eda Kochi area, Mr. Ashraf said public protests had forced the authorities to trim the project and implement it in one division instead of three. The next meeting of the Kochi Corporation Council will take a decision in this regard, he added.
Meanwhile, data released by the Corporation indicated that it was in the dark about the disposal of 20.09% of sewage generated in the city.
While 72% of sewage is managed through septic tanks, 4.01% is handled through community toilets and 3% through pit latrines. The 4.5-MLD plant of the Kerala Water Authority at Elamkulam and the 0.05-MLD plant of the Greater Cochin Development Authority at Marine Drive together took care of 6% of septage generated in the city, according to information provided by the civic administration.
