The city corporation had decided to resume civil works at the site in Nanjundapuram
after it got the consent to establish the facility from the TNPCB in
October 2012. However, the board has issued 27 special conditions to the
corporation pertaining to the set up of the sewage treatment plant
which includes the set up of an online real time monitoring system to
oversee plant operations, to be linked with the head office of TNPCB,
Chennai.

The civic body would get approval only if these
conditions are fulfilled. As of now, all civil works have been
temporarily suspended at the STP site until further orders from the
Tribunal.

“We had issued a condition that the corporation
should provide electromagnetic flow metre with digital online recording
facility at the inlet and outlet of the treatment plant. The reading
will be directly monitored from the TNPCB Care Air Centre in Chennai.
The conditions have to be fulfilled before we issue consent to operate
the plant,” said a senior TNPCB official who requested anonymity.

The Care Air Centre of the Board was initially set up to monitor smoke
emissions from industrial units and is also equipped to monitor
discharge of effluents from treatment plants. The corporation would be
required to collect and analyse treated sewage samples on a monthly
basis from the TNPCB laboratory and submit the report to the district
environmental engineer and Chennai office of TNPCB. The presence of
faecal coliform count should also be analysed. Water samples from nearby
water sources including Noyyal River must be analysed in a similar
manner to compile base line data to assess water quality.

The
civic body will have to realign two water treatment basins from the
north eastern corner adjacent to the residential complex to the western
side of the site to ensure at least a buffer zone of about 40 metres
from residential areas as the stipulated distance of 500m and 100m
buffer zone from the treatment plant cannot be ensured at the present
site in Nanjundapuram.

“The civic body should also monitor the
quality of ground water in the region annually. It should compile and
maintain monthly data on the quality of Noyyal River water, ambient air
and noise levels at the site and furnish it to the board,” the official
added.

The city municipal corporation had initially commenced
work without seeking the consent of the board which is mandatory. The
proposed site was initially used as a sewage pumping station by the
Tamil Nadu Water and Drainage Board in the early 80s. Corporation
commissioner G Latha said the civic body would file a counter
application and was confident of getting a favourable order from the
green tribunal.