Visitors to Vijayawada, the largest urban agglomeration in the fast-growing Amaravati area, are welcomed by a foul smell, and it becomes stronger as they approach the umpteen number of bridges across three irrigation canals and the rudiments of two irrigation drains.
The source of it is the millions of litres of sewage that is dumped into them on a daily basis. Like the city, the sewage system too has been dissected into two by the railway lines and canals that pass right through it.
The canals, drains and the Krishna River which flank the city on the south have been used by all to dump their sewage for a long time now. But there has been an exponential increase in the quantum of sewage with rise in population of the city. When no water is released for irrigation in summer, the canals and drains turn into wide sewerages and source of the strong stink.
The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation too releases untreated sewage directly into the waterways. The corporation is however responsible for the situation only by omission rather than commission.
UGD of no help
Of the 1,91,498 households in the city, only 69,900 properties (36%) have been connected to the underground drainage (UGD) system, according to a survey conducted under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). Efforts are being made to separate the UGD, but the separation will be to no avail if the remaining 1,21,598 properties remain unconnected to the UGD.
Areas in I-town such as Bhavanipuram, Vidyadharapuram, Housing Board Colony, Kabela surroundings, Joji Nagar, K.L. Rao Nagar, Chitti Nagar, Kotha Peta, Wynchipeta and commercial areas are covered by the sewage network but households are yet to be connected. Similarly, areas in the northern part of the city such as Ajit Singh Nagar, Kanaka Durga Nagar, Prakash Nagar, Payakapuram and Subhash Chandra Bose Nagar areas are also covered with networks but households are yet to be connected.
In other parts of the city there is no sewage network to cater to the households. According to the AMRUT survey conducted in 2018, sewage collected by 838.7- km-long network is being currently treated at four sites in Jakkampudi, Ajit Singh Nagar, Jawahar Autonagar and Ramalingeswaranagar.
Network of another 115.9 km was needed ,according to the AMRUT survery.
Besides the network there is a severe shortfall in the capacity to treat the sewage. City has six sewage treatment plants (STPs) with a total capacity of 120 million litres per day (MLD). Another two STPs sanctioned under JNNURM scheme with a total treatment capacity of 30 MLD are yet to be commissioned
The zone-wise sewage flow of areas in four drainage zones – Western (zone 1), Central and Northern (zone 2), Eastern (zone 3) and Souther (zone 4) – is 301.4 MLD.
According to the survey, a major part of 180 MLD is finding into the Krishna River, irrigation canals and drains.
Senior CPI(M) corporator Ch Babu Rao says that many of the STPs were not working to capacity because the pumping stations in their zones were not working. The Seetharamapuram pumping station that was established in 1965 was not working. Similarly, a few pumping stations established in 2005 and a lot of stations established in 2009 were not working.
Temporary measures
The lack of facilities to treat the sewage and its illegal dumping into the waterways is leading to swamping of the city in its own sewage.
When contacted, district Collector A.Md. Imtiaz said there are several issues involved. The VMC is working with the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities to solve the problem of sewage dumping.
Meanwhile, temporary measures were being taken. Grating (meshing) was arranged to prevent plastics and other objects flowing into the canal along with the sewage.
