The government is seeking STP provision right from the design level.
Hyderabad:Hyderabad has grand plans to achieve cent per cent treatment of its sewage water and the plans to set up a sewage treatment plant (STP) at the new Osmania General Hospital, which is increasing its bed capacity to 2,000 beds, is part of this broader initiative.
Once 31 new STPs become operational which are in different stages of construction, 1,259.50 million litres out of total sewage of approximately 1,650 million litres per day (MLD) generated from the city would be treated across Hyderabad.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has already mandated all large apartment complexes and mini townships to have their own STPs to improve wastewater management and reduce pollution in the city.
In fact, the GHMC made it mandatory to have STPs for apartments with more than 100 flats. In the state, all buildings of commercial, residential and industrial use constructed on 10,000 square metres and above must have an on-site STP.
The government is seeking STP provision right from the design level. The builder has to maintain the STP for five years for huge housing complexes before handing it over to the resident welfare bodies.
However, Chandra Kiran, an expert working with Centre for Urban Planning and Policy Research, points out that the majority of builders avoid STPs as it involves huge capital and operational expenditure. Even if they are constructed, the builders often transfer poorly designed or even non-functional STPs to the resident associations.
Highlighting the need to have schemes that encourage builders to mandatorily construct STPs, Chandra points out that financial incentives help builders to invest in high quality STPs to deliver long and durable sewage treatment.
Irrespective of lacunae in emerging STP practices, Telangana is one among top five states in the country, going ahead with improving the operational efficiency of existing plants and augmenting treatment capacity to address the growing challenges of sewage management and to stop pollution of urban water bodies
