Sewage treatment at Pampa likely to be hit

Inadequate facility for collection of waste

The Restaurant Complex and Annadaana Mandapam coming up at Pampa will generate more waste, adding to the pollution of the Pampa river. –Photo: Leju Kamal

Inadequate facility for the collection of waste is likely to hit sewage treatment at Pampa during the forthcoming Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrim season.

The lone sullage collection tank provided by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) for four hotels, restaurants, and the Annadaana Mandapam under construction at Pampa would be grossly inadequate to meet the actual requirement, according to experts.

Draining out of the hotel waste into the Pampa river was reported during the previous pilgrim season. The two septic tanks provided by the four latrine complexes at Pampa too is not sufficient to hold the sewage generated there during the rush days of the pilgrim season.

Sources said the one-kilometre-long twin sewerline system also do not have the capacity to pump the huge quantity of waste from Pampa to the sewage treatment plant (STP) at Cheriyanavattom.

Sewer-line burst

Bursting of sewer lines due to excess pressure was a recurring problem during the previous pilgrim season.

The STP with a capacity to treat 3.5 million litres a day (mld) is grossly inadequate to treat the huge quantity of waste generated at Pampa. The authorities concerned are yet to act on the long-pending plea for capacity augmentation of the 15-year-old STP at Cheriyanavattom to 5 mld.

The existing chemical-based STP commissioned in 2000 too started developing technical snags and its parallel plate separators were damaged a year ago.

The High Power Committee’s stand that the proposal for a new STP or the capacity augmentation of the existing one could be considered only after studying the performance of the new STP under construction at Sabarimala Sannidhanam is sure to leave the sewage treatment at Pampa in total disarray, exposing the Pampa to more poplution, sources say.