The Times of India 11.11.2009
PCMC likely to disallow septic tanks in buildings
PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is considering making changes in the building permission rules to disallow septic tanks. According to Ashish Sharma, PCMC commissioner, the civic body could also withhold completion certificates to buildings that construct septic tanks instead of connecting the sewage lines to the civic drainage network.
Sharma was speaking at the valedictory function of the two-day Nadi Chintan Shibir' (a meeting to discuss the problems confronting rivers) held at the Meghaji Lokhande Kamgar Bhavan in Pimpri.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will conduct a survey of the 5-km stretch of the Pavana river to create awareness among people about connecting their domestic sewage lines to the PCMC's drainage network.
Sharma said, "The survey will be conducted from Ravet to Moraya Gosavi temple in Chinchwadgaon and will be a sub-basin survey. We will urge people to connect their domestic sewage connections to the nearest PCMC sewage network as we do not want untreated sewage to be released into Pavana river."
He said that work on the survey would be started soon and completed within six months. The PCMC will send a group of municipal engineers to Nashik and other cities to learn new techniques of waste management.
Speaking at the meeting, river conservation expert Rajendra Singh said, "The PCMC should conduct a comprehensive survey of the Pavana river whereby corporators of wards that have the river flowing through their limits help identify problems in cleaning the river. People should reduce their daily quantum of water usage."
Independent corporator Maruti Bhapkar volunteered to start work in his ward to ensure that no sewage entered the river. He expressed readiness to work with non-governmental organisations and the PCMC to complete this task.
Anil Mengshety of the PCMC Junior Engineers' Association said, "Civic engineers are ready to work with NGOs and corporators to conduct a survey of the entire Pavana river and identify the spots where the drainage chambers and pipes are choked or broken."
Sunil Joshi of Jal Biradari said that in 15 days the NGOs will prepare an action plan about this survey.
PCMC mayor Aparna Doke assured those present that she would co-operate with the environmentalists in their efforts to clean the rivers within the municipal limits. Nagkumar Kunchagi, chief of the environmental cell spoke on the current status of rivers within the municipal limits.
