The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board is awaiting clearance of its proposal to clean up the Musi river, a tributary of Krishna river, flowing across the city. The river is highly polluted as 500 million litres of sewerage is discharged into the river every day.
According to M.G. Gopal, Managing Director of HMWS&SW, the sewerage treatment plant at Amberpet has a capacity to treat only 113 million litres, resulting in a high percentage of untreated sewerage being discharged into the river. He said five more sewerage treatment plants would be set up at five different locations at a cost of Rs 352 crore in the next three years. Also, the capacity of Amberpet plant would be raised to 339 million litres.
500 million litres of sewerage is discharged into Musi river every day.
(Picture courtesy: Eenadu)
The state government had presented a Rs 295-crore pre-feasibility project report to the National River Action Plan for financial assistance way back in December 2000. However, the latter asked for detailed project reports. Subsequently, this project report has been submitted and the revised cost stands at Rs 352 crore. Scrutiny of the project report is expected to be over by September and by that time administrative and technical clearance for the project too is expected to come forth. Tendering process is set commence immediately after that. Actual work on the project is expected to commence in the next financial year.
Besides sewerage, industrial effluents from Kattedan, Jeedimetla and Balanagar have been directed to the Musi. A pipeline is proposed to be laid from Pattancheru, the highly polluted industrial belt, to direct all effluents into the river. However, Gopal said the pipeline from Pattacheru would not cause further damage as the effluents from the belt would be treated before being let into the river.
