The state cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to set up sewage treatment plants (STPs) in all urban local bodies in Maharashtra. At present, the total amount of sewage from the 391 local civic bodies is 9,758.53 million litres per day (MLD). Compared to this, the current sewage treatment system has a capacity of 7,747.24 MLD.
According to an urban development department said that the state is capable of treating around 79 per cent of the sewage it produces in urban areas. He added that the National Green Tribunal has, therefore, directed the government to set up plants to increase its sewage treatment capacity by 2,011 MLD.
Following this direction, the State Cabinet sanctioned the project on Wednesday. Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Nasik, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pune either already have STPs or are constructing them.
Meanwhile, the government will commence the program's first stage by setting up the sewage treatment capacity in urban bodies, the cost of which is estimated at ₹2,820 crore. The funding for the scheme is said to be raised from the Centre’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and/or the State sponsored Golden Jubilee Urban Renewal Mega Mission.
On the other hand, a decentralised sewage management system is being worked around in municipal panchayat areas. The funds for the same have been drawn from the Swacchha Bharat Abhiyan.
The government will then kick off the second phase of the project by introducing a plan to centralise this sewage water for treatment.
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