THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While the City Corporation is all set to commission the sewerage treatment plant at Muttathara this June, land acquisition blues continue to haunt the construction of pumping stations for the plant. Even when the city has an outdated sewage network, dating back to pre-independence times, the need for renovating the sewerage network has been caught up in controversies and red tape. While tenders were called for two pumping stations and work taken up by a firm, the delay in giving technical clearance has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the project. The Corporation had identified four sites of 40 cents each for laying the new pipes for the networking of the sewerage system, but with the locals moving Court, that move has been caught in legal tangles. The Corporation’s demand for a land acquisition team exclusively for the project has also fallen on deaf ears. As of now, the new plant has a capacity of 107 mld (million litres per day), but as things stand, the plant would have to work for 40 mld only since that is the amount of sewage generated from the city presently. That too, the sewage generated from 50 wards; the rest having no sewage system at all. ‘’Two pumping stations marked B and C in the project needed no land acquisition. We had identified government land for the pumping stations. In October 2010, the plan was placed before the Empowered Committee and was passed on to a three-member committee for technical clearance. The tenders were called and a firm had taken up the project. The final clearance should have been given by February 28. Since it was not given by the government, the firm is now demanding tender excess and the project is in a limbo,’’ said Mayor K Chandrika. According to KSUDP officials, 11 pumping stations need to come up and pipelines have to be laid across 30 acres of land (in length). The project envisages gravity flow method of the septic waste through pipes to the treatment plant, where it would be turned to drinking water making use of advanced technologies. However, with half the wards having no sewerage system, the networking needs to be strengthened. The Corporation had identified four sites -Ulloor, Akkulam, Santinagar and Karimanal (both in Attipra ward) for pipe-laying. However, the land acquisition here is now caught in legal issues. ‘’A revenue team exclusively for the land-acquisition is needed. Without which it is impossible to make any headway,’’ said a KSUDP official. Sources said that at many places like Punchakari, the local resistance is high since the public has less knowledge about the need for septage treatment. In low-lying areas where the ground water begins from 3 metre depth, septic tanks are impractical. However, the Corporation has been unable to convince the public at many places with the Vilappilsala crisis staring right at their face. The term ‘plant’, whether it is garbage or sewerage, is bound to raise alarm among the public. Meanwhile, the Corporation is planning to commission the treatment plant in the second week of June. A total of ` 336 crore was assigned for the project, of which ` 215 crore was released in the first phase. The plant has been set up spending ` 80 crore.
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