The Hindu 20.11.2013
Modern sewage plant to be commissioned on November 27
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will commission the State’s
first modern sewage treatment plant at Muttathara here at 4 p.m. on
November 27 .
Urban Affairs Minister Manjalamkuzhi
Ali, addressing the media after a visit to the plant here on Tuesday,
said the 107-million litres a day (mld) plant, being set up at a cost of
Rs.80 crore on a 100-acre expanse, had a total project cost of Rs.240
crore.
The Delhi-based UEM group had completed the
plant, the ownership and operations of which would be overseen by the
Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. The Kerala Water Authority had
coordinated and supervised work on the plant, which would be using the
activated sludge and extended aeration technology, the Minister said.
One
of the biggest such plants in the country to use this technology and
one intended to convince the public that sewage could indeed be treated
without polluting or posing problems to the surroundings, the plant
would be treating around 40 mld only in the beginning since the sewerage
network in the city was yet to be completed, Mr. Ali said.
According
to officials of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project
(KSUDP), only 30 per cent of the city was covered by a sewerage network.
The network was present only in five ‘blocks’ out of the total of 18
‘sewerage blocks’ that the city was divided into. Work on extending the
network was progressing, the officials said, adding that the network was
currently being installed in Attipra, Ulloor, Kadakampally, Nemam,
Pappanamcode, Thiruvallam, Attukal, Kaladi and Kalippankulam.
The
Minister, who said the treated effluent or treated waste-water from the
plant was currently being discharged into the Parvathy Puthanar canal,
said plans were on to utilize the same for landscaping, gardening and
other purposes. The sludge from the plant was found to be suitable and
without side effects as manure.