Developing sluice gates at barrages along the Panchaganga river, making sure service centres have in-house effluent treatment plant, setting up separate washing centres for clothes and cattle are some of the measures suggested by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in its draft report prepared on the directions of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The CM after taking cognizance of the complaints about fish deaths in the Panchaganga river had asked the board to come up with a concrete plan to tackle the pollution of the river. District guardian minister Satej Patil and several other public representatives from the district have approved the draft, which will be given to Thackeray soon.

Currently, most of the sewage from Kolhapur city is treated while around 45 million litre from Ichalkaranji is discharged into the river without any treatment, which is the major source of pollution.

The expert members associated with the drafting of the report said the major focus of the plan is to develop infrastructure such as treatment plants for Ichalkaranji and villages along the banks of the river.

Uday Gaikwad, an environmentalist and expert member said, “We have suggested measures to be taken at the micro-level. For instance, we expect the effluent from the household textile units from Ichalkaranji to be diverted to a single point and then treat it effectively. We have proposed sluice gates for the barrages to flush out the solid waste and sediment waste from the river so that the river water remains diluted.”

Kolhapur city was once a major polluter of the river. Currently, around 95% of the sewage generated in the city is treated.

Gaikwad said they have suggested mandatory setting up of the effluent treatment plants by the servicing centres. “The servicing centres generate a huge amount of wastewater every day. Such units come under the industrial category and by law they should have their own effluent treatment plants,” said Gaikwad.
The plan also includes the diversion of 91 million litre of treated wastewater from Kolhapur city for irrigation . He said the work requires over Rs 25 crore, however, the funds can be recovered by charging fees from farmers for using the treated wastewater.

Patil has asked officials to estimate the funds required to implement the measures.

Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by Water Today staff and is generated from news feeds. Source: The Times of India