The countdown begins: Getting the households connected to the sewer lines is proving to be a bigger challenge to the PWD which is planning to commission three treatment plants in Puducherry. | Photo Credit: S_S_KUMAR more-in The three sewage treatment plants (STP), each having capacity to treat 17 million litres of wastewater a day, will be made functional by November. The public health wing of the Public Works Department had taken up construction of STP at Lawspet, Dubrayapet, and Kanaganeri as part of the ‘’Comprehensive Sewerage Scheme for the Urban Areas of Puducherry,’’ under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission in 2011-12. The project taken up at cost of ?300 crore was scheduled to be completed in two years but financial constraints, delay in getting environmental clearance and digging of roads to lay sewer lines hampered progress of work in setting up the STPs. According to a senior official in the Public Works Department, the civil works for establishing the treatment plants had been completed and the trial run of STP at Lawspet had commenced. Trial run for the other two plants at Dubrayapet and Kanaganeri would begin shortly. “The plants will be made operational by November,” said the official. The project involves laying of sewerage lines for about 290 km covering an area of 1,500 hectares of land within the urban limits. The sewer lines connecting the pump houses, numbering around 10, were laid, except in a few areas where the line had to be laid after cutting open the National Highway. In these areas, the PWD had decided to use the horizontal drilling technology to avoid cutting the road, the official added. Huge challenge The biggest challenge before the utility was to get households connected to the sewer lines. The health wing of the PWD had started distributing applications in Lawspet area and so far 11,000 applications were distributed. Each STP has been designed to cater to the treatment of wastewater from 16,000 to 20,000 households, an official said. “Much of the success depends on the cooperation of people. We are planning to create awareness at the initial stage to enrol people voluntarily for getting the sewage connection. After a point, we will take strict action against letting out household waste into open places,” said another official. Meanwhile, the PWD was examining the possibility of cleaning up the waste in the Uppar drain at Dubrayapet STP. The Chief Minister had directed the PWD to examine the possibility of using the STP to clean the Uppar drain. By implementing the scheme, it would be possible to provide better environment, improved health to citizens, improvement in tourism sector and overall development. Since 1980, the sewerage scheme for urban areas was being implemented under the Integrated Urban Development Projects under State Budget. The scheme was limited to two zones and partially in other three zones, out of the nine zones in the urban areas of Puducherry town.

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