The civic administration said a recent state government decision allowing sewage treatment plants (STPs) inside river flood lines will help the Mula-Mutha rivers’ pollution mitigation project.
In 2016, the central government had sanctioned the construction of 11 STPs as a part of Pune Municipal Corporation’s Rs1,000 crore pollution control project. Four of these STPs were proposed in the blue flood line.
“The state government recently announced unified development control rules, which allow setting up STPs inside the river flood line,” a PMC official confirmed.
Before the UDC rules were announced, the official said PMC was in the process of finding alternative sites for the four treatment plants.
This development has alarmed environmentalists, who said it could adversely affect the flow of the river. They said they feared that the STPs would get inundated during floods.
“The construction of the STPs will lead to other constructions, such as control room gates. The government needs to think of a long-term plan, taking into consideration the environmental impact,” activist Sarang Yadvadkar said.
PMC, however, allayed these fears, with the official saying the plants would be built above the high flood level (HFL), eliminating any chance of inundation.
Another activist, Vaishali Patkar, said citizens and experts should have been consulted before a decision with environmental repercussions was taken. “We will write a letter to the minister concerned in this regard,” Patkar said.
Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by Water Today staff and is generated from news feeds. Source: The Times of India