The Jal Shakti Ministry has asked the Kerala government to take appropriate measures to bridge the gap in the treatment of sewage and solid waste.
The gap in sewage treatment capacity is 967.545 million litres per day (MLD) while there existed a gap of 241 tonnes per day in municipal solid waste management, according to the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
The need to plug the continuing gaps in the treatment of sewage and solid waste was highlighted by the Ministry at an online meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee in the case before the National Green Tribunal related to the increasing pollution of river stretches held on January 11.
Senior officials of the Ministry pointed out that seven of the 22 sewage treatment plants installed in the State were non-operational. Around 20% of the sewage was being treated while the under construction sewage treatment plants will cover another 20%. Around 60% will still remain untreated, according to the minutes of the meeting.
The Ministry suggested that the State needs to reconcile the data of water polluting industries and the capacity of the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs). The CETPs at KINFRA Apparel Park, Thiruvananthapuram (4.5 MLD), KINFRA Small Industry Park, Nellad, Ernakulam (0.4 MLD) and Rubber Park, Ernakulam (0.25 MLD) were not complying with the standards, it said.
The State Environment department informed the meeting that an asset mapping and sanitation survey is under way by the Department of Water Resources aimed at providing insights of actions to be taken for proper sewage management. The Department of Local Self-Government is preparing a good action plan based on the direction of the Kerala High Court for solid waste management. The Kerala State Pollution Control Board has initiated steps to address the issue of non-functional CETPs, it said.
The meeting highlighted the improvement seen in water quality of the river stretches in the State. The number of polluted river stretches has come down from 21 in 2018 to 18, it said.
