Bengaluru: In responses to notices being served by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to older apartments for not installing sewage treatment plants (STPs), the Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF) facilitated a study to find if it is feasible to put up such plants.
The study was conducted by two structural engineering experts, Mr B.N. Nagaraja, retired chief engineer of CPWD, and Mr Ashok Rao from a consulting firm. They have come to the conclusion that retrospective installation of STPs in old apartments may impact the structural safety of the buildings which may lead to the collapse of the structures.
Asked if the civic agencies were not aware of the facts being highlighted in the report, Mr Nagaraj said, “I believe that the agencies are not getting into the details about the ground reality. But as a structural engineer, I can say that if the installation is forced it will be a disaster.”
Earlier this year, the the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board made it compulsory for the all apartments with over 50 units to install STPs. Of the 755 apartments inspected by the KSPCB and BWSSB in the Bellandur Lake catchments area, 319 apartments do not have STPs but are connected to the underground sewerage.
Sangeetha Apartments (165 units), Shashikaran Apartments (90 units) and Jayanthi Apartments (65 units) were the residential complexes where the feasibility of the installation of the treatment plants was conducted.
The report says that if the construction of an STP in the available parking lot of Sangeetha Apartments takes place, it would endanger the column foundations and would also violate the parking norms of the BBMP, which mandates a minimal parking space for visitors’ vehicles inside the complexes.
Mr Srikanth Narsimhan, General Secretary of the BAF, confirmed that the report has been submitted to the KSPCB and National Green Tribunal (NGT).
