The report on `Status of sewage generation in India’ has pointed out that of the total generation of 660.73 million litres daily (MLD) in its class-I cities, only 53 MLD or a mere 8 per cent was treated.

The national average of sewage treatment is 32 per cent and the 8 per cent is exactly equal to the national average treatment of sewage generated in class-II towns.

Even Chhattisgarh has outperformed Orissa. Of a total of 350.47 MLD sewage generated, 20 per cent or around 69 MLD gets treated in class-I cities of Chhattisgarh.

Increase in water supply has resulted in higher waste water or sewage generation in Orissa but the linear relationship between water supplied and waste water generated in Orissa accounts to 200 litres per capita daily (LPCD) against 100 LPCD in Andhra Pradesh. Over 80 per cent of water supplied turns out as waste water in class-I cities.

Identifying this as a major factor behind high degree of water pollution, the report cautions that lack of treatment could spell doom for the fresh water reserves, including ground water.

Of the aggregate sewage generated in class-I cities in Orissa, the four coastal cities of Balasore, Berhampur, Cuttack and Puri together account for over 35 per cent or 253.64 MLD. The total sewage generated in the class-I coastal cities accounts for 4.08 per cent of the total sewage generated in the entire coastal belt in the country.

Puri generates 36 MLD but treatment capacity is only 20 MLD. In Cuttack against the total sewage of 127 MLD, treatment stands at mere 33 MLD. Berhampur and Balaore have no sewage treatment facility.

The Capital city with a generation of 286 LPCD tops the class-I cities chart and Balasore with a per capita of 66.41 LPCD is at the bottom. But, Balangir with a total of 9.13 MLD generates the least among class-I cities.

Among the class-II towns, with a generation of 8.24 MLD Brajrajnagar tops the list closely followed by Jharsuguda and Paradip.

Rayagada with a total of 3.2 MLD sewage generation stands at the bottom. The total sewage generated by the 12 class-II towns stood at 78.42 MLD. In class-II towns too, the sewage water generated stood at over 70 per cent of the water supply.

Given the lowest sewage treatment capacity in Orissa, the report recommends urgent establishment and augmentation of the capacity to prevent large-scale water pollution in Orissa.