In its order on the widening gaps in Kerala’s solid and liquid waste management scenario issued on July 7, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) led by its chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel made a pertinent observation.
“Till this gap is bridged, unprocessed solid waste and untreated liquid waste will continue to remain a source of degradation of environment and damage to public health, including deaths and diseases which society can ill afford,” the Bench said in response to a report by the government, which revealed that sewage coming to about 51 million litres a day (MLD) generated in the State is left untreated. The gap in solid waste management is about 781 tonnes per day.
The report on the shortcomings in the State’s waste management status clearly indicates that a huge quantity of untreated liquid waste is being discharged into drains, streams, canals, lakes, and rivers in violation of environmental norms.
Expressing its concern, the NGT’s Principal Bench said huge gaps still existed “even after 48 years of enactment of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and expiry of timelines for taking necessary steps for solid waste management in terms of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016”.
“Are there insurmountable difficulties for the State authorities or lack of will and determination? We find it difficult to believe the first. In our view, it is the lack of good governance and determination responsible for the situation which needs to be remedied soonest,” it said.
According to official estimates by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, as on May 2022, Kerala generated about 3,795 MLD of sewage and sullage daily. Sewage generation was about 1,192 MLD while sullage accounted for 2,783 MLD out of the total 3,795 MLD.
The estimated sewage and sullage generation in urban areas is 1, 058 MLD (sewage - 317, sullage - 741). In rural areas, the total generation of sewage and sullage is 2,917 MLD (sewage- 875, sullage 2,042).
The State has 19 common sewage treatment plants (STPs) and three common faecal sludge treatment plants (FSTPs). Only two common septage treatment plants are functional. A common FSTP has not yet started functioning. About 129.47 MLD of sewage treatment is being done through common existing STPs while the septage treatment capacity through existing common FSTPs was a meagre 0.21 MLD. The sewage treatment capacity through individual STPs in various establishments is only 69 MLD. The gap in treatment of sewage is 51.31 MLD.
“The cities and towns in the State lack modern sewerage systems and sewage treatment plants. While sewerage is an essential component of modern urban infrastructure, Kerala did not invest in sanitary sewer systems for the conveyance of sewage as a result of policies that prioritised short-term political gains. There has been no expansion since 1984, although the city and water supply increased manifold. Instead of public investment in sewerage, Kerala sought to force individual commercial private establishments to install small STPs. But these units meant for discharges from individual sources, including commercial and residential apartment buildings, have mostly failed owing to their poor design, smell issues, lack of trained personnel to operate the facility and lack of maintenance,” says Ajit Haridas, former Chairman of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board.
Interestingly, records show that around 1,011 MLD of the estimated 1,192 MLD of sewage is directed into septic tanks/soak pits while the report presented before the tribunal remains silent on the management of about 2,783 MLD of sullage.
Dr. Haridas says septic tanks are used in Kerala only for sewage treatment. “Sullage is not treated and discharged into open drains. Septic tanks must be desludged as per schedule (once in two years). Desludging data is not collected or maintained by local bodies. When desludged, the septage is illegally dumped because of the absence of septage treatment plants. In places with high watertables such as Kochi and Alappuzha, soak pits are useless. In high density urban areas, septic tanks are not suitable even when used only for blackwater sewage treatment. There is no alternative to underground sewerage and STPs in high-density urban areas,” he says.
Studies have shown that the indiscriminate discharge of untreated liquid waste has taken a toll on the life of rivers. A report submitted by the Pollution Control Board before the NGT in December 2021 says that “the increase in discharge of sewage from cities and towns has resulted in the deterioration of water quality in the Periyar river”.
Worsening water quality has been detected along the three river stretches that include Idukki, Idukki-Ernakulam border (Neriamangalam) to Aluva, and the Mangalapuzha branch and Aluva to Eloor ferry, covering industrial areas at Eloor, Edayar and Kalamassery.
Besides sewage contamination, the waterbodies have also been hit by industrial pollution. According to official estimates, the State has about 4,629 water-polluting industrial units. The effluent generation was about 168.76 MLD while the quantity of hazardous sludge generation from industrial units was about 2,584 tonnes per day. Only 64 units were linked to the existing eight common effluent treatment plants.
Explaining that untreated liquid waste has impacted the living resources of the riverine system, S. Bijoy Nandan, Professor, Dept. of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, and Dean, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, says that around 260 MLD of effluents are discharged into the backwaters from the Eloor-Kalamassery industrial belt.
“The industrial complexes depend on the river for intake of process water and disposal of effluents. The Greater Kochi region is ranked 24th (with Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index score of 75.08) amongst the critically polluted areas in the country. The Periyar river has become a cesspool of diverse toxins following the generational accumulation of waste, discharge of untreated liquid waste from industry, agricultural and domestic sources,” he says.
Recalling the observation by the Principal Bench of the NGT that “no accountability has been fixed for the continuing failure [gaps in waste management], which is a matter of regret”, A.V. Ramakrishna Pillai, chairman of the NGT-appointed State-level monitoring committee on solid waste management, says that secretaries of local bodies have the responsibility to initiate measures to check the menace of liquid waste being dumped into drains, canals, and other water bodies.
“Local bodies as well as the State must ensure that public health is preserved because a clean environment is a fundamental right of citizens under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The lack of effluent treatment plants in hotels, restaurants, eating joints and catering units to process untreated wastewater remains a major concern,” he says.
The government claims that its efforts to enhance infrastructure for liquid waste treatment have been hit by public resistance. Scarcity of land and suitable technologies for scientific processing of untreated wastewater have added to the existing woes.
Sarada G. Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government Department, says every single liquid waste management project in the State has been hit by opposition from the public.
“As an informed community needs to be responsible, the government has launched the community-led clean aquifer campaign titled Thelineer Ozhukum Nava Keralam for the mapping and protection of all major waterbodies. There is a strategic angle to the initiative because you need to have a counter to every resistance that is coming up. A demand will come up from the community itself saying that we want our waterbodies to be clean; we want to get rid of faecal contamination; and we want to be able to conserve for our children. The intent of the project is to create awareness that our eyes need to be open to the scale of the problem in front of us,” she says.
Dr. Haridas says there is no alternative to modern sewerage and sewage treatment plants, at least in all census towns. “A critical reason for the poor public health performance of the State has been the total lack of sanitary sewers and sewage treatment. Projects such as solid waste treatment plants, sewerage systems and STPs, while benefiting large sections of society, do not translate into votes. On the other hand, there is a negative impact because of the ‘not in my backyard’ attitude of the public. Land is a key issue. The negative reaction to sewerage and sewage treatment projects is invariably fanned into agitations for narrow political gains. It cannot be overcome without a political consensus that seems to be elusive in the present and foreseeable future,” he says.
As the NGT’s Principal Bench concluded in its July 7 order, the people must be involved in the problem by appropriate awareness and strategies to encourage public participation and contribution.
“At the cost of repetition, health issues cannot be deferred to the long future. Long future dates, breach of which is established from the track record of the last several decades, are not a convincing solution. There is no accountability for past breaches. It is a poor substitute for compliance. This approach may project lack of concern or not realising the grim ground situation, crying for emergent remedial measures on priority. There is no time for leisure, reflected in timelines proposed [by Kerala] for bridging the acknowledged gaps,” it says.
