PM inaugurates six sewage treatment plants under Namami Gange project

Time of India

7 hours ago

Patna:
through video conferencing on Friday inaugurated six sewage treatment plants (STPs), including five in Patna district and one in Begusarai, under the Namami Gange project.
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Two major STPs are located in Kankarbagh and Digha areas.
The Digha facility, pegged to be the state's largest STP, has a capacity of processing 100 MLD (million litres per day), while the Kankarbagh plant can treat 50 MLD effluent.
These two state-of-the-art facilities, constructed at the cost of Rs 1,187.86 crore, will treat effluent from a large portion of the city before releasing it into the Ganga river.
One each STP was opened at Mokama, Fatuha and Bakhtiyarpur in the Patna district.
The project was executed by the Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (Buidco), said officials.
However, the project faces some pending challenges, particularly in networking infrastructure.
A Buidco official said, "Under the plan, the Digha plant has a capacity of 100 MLD and a 303 km sewerage network, while the Kankarbagh plant, of 150 km sewerage line, has a capacity of 50 MLD. For the successful implementation of the project in Kankarbagh, the Patna Municipal Corporation area has been divided into six sewerage zones: Zone I-Digha, Zone II-Beur, Zone III and Zone IV (North)-Saidpur, Zone IV-Kankarbagh, Zone IV (south) and Zone V-Pahari and Zone VI-Karmalichak.
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The Digha sewage and sewerage network plan includes wards no. 1 to 9, wards no. 20 to 26, and 28 (partially 50%), covering a total area of 3,395.50 hectares of the municipal corporation area, including the Patliputra Colony and surrounding areas.
Sewage will be collected by gravity at the Digha sewage system with pumping stations having capacities of 104 MLD and 103 MLD. From the pumping stations, sewage will be directed to the Digha STP with a capacity of 100 MLD.
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"Currently, sewage from Kurji Nala (2 MLD) and Rajapur Nala (38 MLD) is being treated at the Digha STP having capacity of 40 MLD," the Buidco official said.
The Kankarbagh sewage network plan covers ward numbers 29, 30 (partially 50%), 31 to 35, 44, and 45, spanning a total area of 886.50 hectares within the municipal corporation limits.
In Kankarbagh area, sewage will be collected by gravity at pumping stations with capacities of 90 MLD and 110 MLD.
From the pumping station, sewage will be directed to a 50 MLD capacity treatment plant in the area. Currently, the Agamkuan drain is tapping sewage at 20 MLD for treatment at the Kankarbagh 20 MLD plant, aiming to reduce the pollution load discharged into the Ganga.
However, the networking phase, which involves laying pipelines to connect households to the STPs, is expected to take at least a year to complete. In Digha, only 150 km of the planned 303 km sewerage network has been completed.
Of the required 11,314 manholes, only 4,105 have been constructed. Similarly, in Kankarbagh, just 80.08 km of the planned 150 km network is complete, with 3,527 manholes yet to be built.
The project, which began on Dec 30, 2019, was initially scheduled for completion by Aug 29, 2022. While the STPs themselves are now operational, the household connection work remains incomplete.
The Mokama facility, completed at a cost of Rs 300 crore under the Namami Gange project, will treat waste water for agricultural use. The Fatuha sewage treatment plant has been constructed near Garhochak village at a cost of Rs 49.21 crore.