After months of petitions, meetings with officials, court cases and even major protests, apartment dwellers have finally secured relief, with the State government on Thursday agreeing to suspend a rule that would have imposed penalties on existing apartment complexes that have not installed sewage treatment plants (STPs).
For the second time in less than a year, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) will have to amend the Bangalore Sewerage Regulations.
While the rules were amended in April to exclude apartment complexes that have between 20 and 50 units, officials said it was now decided to exclude even existing 50-unit apartment complexes from installing STPs.
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“We have decided to suspend the penalty clause. The STP rule will now be applicable only to apartments with more than 50 housing units and which have been built after January 2016,” Tushar Girinath, BWSSB chairman, told
The decision came on Thursday evening after a meeting of Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF), Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, and civic officials.
Under the existing rules, apartment complexes had time till December 31 to install STPs.
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This saw more than 25 apartment complexes getting a stay from the High Court of Karnataka, while the BAF estimates that a further 35 apartment complexes were on the verge of knocking on the court’s door.
However, STPs are mandatory for existing apartment complexes in areas that do not have an underground drainage system.
‘Sweet victory for apartment dwellers’
For the past seven months, Rear Admiral N.K. Mishra (retd) had been running from court — where a writ petition had been filed — to government offices against an order that would have made it mandatory for him and others in Jal Vayu Vihar at Byappanahalli to set up a sewage treatment plant (STP).
The implementation of the rule would have seen 458 apartments in the complex cumulatively shell out over ₹1 crore just to set up the STP that would have discharged treated water into the underground drainage system in the area. “The rule would have hit our savings, not just to set up the STP, but also to operate it according to norms,” he said.
On Thursday, however, seven months of work lead to “double victory”. First, the High Court granted a stay against the rule, and by evening, the BWSSB had relented on retrospectively implementing the STP rule. “It is a sweet victory for apartment dwellers,” he said.
BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath said while penalties have been suspended, the Bangalore Sewerage (Amendment) Regulations 2017 will have to be amended to reflect the changes. Similarly, the BBMP will have to write to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board for approval before exempting upcoming apartment complexes with less than 50 units.
However, STPs will be mandatory for any apartment complex, existing or upcoming, in areas not connected by underground drainage network. “The no-objection certificate that was issued to these apartments clearly states that they must have their own STP facility. So, there will be no relaxation here,” he said.
Srikanth Narasimhan, general secretary of the Bangalore Apartment Federation, said the association was “completely fine” with this formula.
“In areas with no UGD network, it is fair to ask apartments to install STPs as the sewage would otherwise be discharged through drains and into waterbodies. We are also glad that the government has decided not to prospectively implement STPs in apartments between 20 and 50 units as it is not economically or environmentally feasible,” he said.
While Thursday’s decision reflects an acceptance that treating sewage in an area with UGD network is the “fundamental duty” of the BWSSB, Sharachchandra Lele, a researcher with Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), said issues continued to persist.
“Even in places without a UGD network, apartments have been told to ensure there is zero discharge from their complex. This is not possible even with an STP as they cannot reuse all their treated water. Like industries, they should be given an option to either install STPs or manually transport sewage to larger STPs. Ecologically, it is the same, but it makes economic sense for apartments,” he said.