RTI reveals absence of power back up for STPs affects performance
14 Jan, 2013An application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has revealed that a large number of sewage treatment plants (STP) installed at Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporations (PCMC) and one at Pune Municipal Corporations (PMC) are functioning without either inadequate or no power back up.
The reply provided by PCMC stated that out of 13 STPs in PCMC, 2 STPs are out of operation for many months. Six of the remaining STPs are functioning without a power back up. In Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), out of ten STPs, the one at Dr. Naidu Hospital is functioning without power back up. The deputy engineer of the PCMC (environment cell) stated that they have already demanded express feeders for the STPs. The sub regional officer of MPCB informed that PMC is using a battery arrangement as back-up for the one STP which is not fully functional.
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) inspection reports reveal instances of STPs not functioning at full capacity as levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) are way higher than the prescribed limits. The report states that the maintenance and performance of sewage treatment plants (STP) seem far from satisfactory.