The citizens’
group claimed that the findings of the report titled ‘Why Chennai
Stinks’ that was released on Wednesday, was based on a series of RTIs
and inspections carried out by a team from the organisation. “The first
step towards finding a solution for the sewage problem is to acknowledge
it, something that the government is failing to do,” said  Jayaram
Venkatesan, convenor of Arappor Iyakkam.Even by consolidating the data
acquired from the CMWSSB, the team found that at least 604 MLD of sewage
was being pumped in the 245 pumping stations across the city, revealing
a difference of over 50 MLD with the CMWSSB estimates for 2017.

Out
of the 27 sewage pumping stations that were audited for the study, the
report alleged that 10 stations released untreated sewage into
waterbodies. In the team’s social audit of pumping stations, no plant
operator was reportedly assigned to several pumping stations like the
South Mada street pumping station at Tiruvottriyur.

“There
was only a field operator with high school education in most of the
pumping stations that we audited, and the operator did not know even
basic details like the measure of total flow of sewage,” Jayaram said.
The operator’s work was limited to switching the motor on and off based
on the level of sewage in the well.

A
plant operator, on the other hand, is required to have an associated
degree or diploma and keep himself updated on the functioning of the
pumping station. At the stations, three operators are required during
each shift – one plant operator and two field operators.
“There was even an instance when we found the operators drinking at the
time of our visit,” he said. According to the report, at Manali, a large
quantity of untreated sewage was let into a pond, called an ‘oxidation
pond’, which had been apportioned near the Kosasthalaiyar, solely for
the purpose of collecting untreated discharge. This was later verified
through  RTI.

The report also
detailed the team’s observations on  sewage treatment plants in the
city, concluding that it lacked monitoring mechanisms like flow metres
and had insufficient aeration. It also noted that the main equipment in
many of these plants, including the primary clarifier and bio gas
engine, were not functional.

The group has recommended the installation of automatic flow controllers
to publish live data on sewage flow and holding the CMWSSB responsible
for prevention of discharge of untreated sewage into waterbodies.

Violating norms
Out of the 27 sewage pumping stations that were audited for the study,
the detailed report alleged that 10 stations released untreated sewage
into waterbodies.