Coliform level at Sabari came down, says Pollution Control Board

Kottayam: The Pollution Control Board (PCB) says the coliform level at Sabarimala has come down sharply after a new company started operating the sewage treatment plant (STP) at Sannidhanam.

The high-power committee on Sabarimala had terminated the previous contractor for installing the STP as it failed to meet PCB norms.

It failed to establish the sewage network and disinfection systems after getting the approval in September last year on the condition that the coliform count of the treated sewage should not exceed 230 per 1,000 millilitres a day.

The PCB found all parameters except the oil and grease level within limits in their latest inspections.

"So far the standard parameters are as per the norms. The unit is taking earnest efforts to bring the oil and grease within the stipulated standards of 10 milligrammes per litre. There is no coliform presence in 100 millilitres according to our inspections over the last few days since the STP sufficiently chlorinated," Alexander George, the environmental engineer of Pathanamthitta, told DC.

The accepted coliform count in the discharge is 230 per 100 millilitres and biochemical oxygen demand 30mg per litre.

The maximum sewage quantity received in the STP during this season is 10,60,000 litres on Monday while the same during the previous season was 10,48,000 litres.During the inspection on Tuesday, it found that the Devaswom Board (TDB) had constructed two utility holes near the incinerator area for connecting the discharges from the Pandithavalam hotels, six at the backside of the annadhana mandapam, and releases from old toilet complex, connected sewer lines at the backside of the Dhanlaxmi Bank.  

The full capacity of the STP at Sannidhanam is 50 lakh litres per day.