Sewage management system in Varanasi inadequate

VARANASI: Managing Varanasi's sewage and industrial effluents is a major problem for PM Narendra Modi, who wants Clean Ganga mission to focus on urban sewage and industrial effluents to check pollution at source. Not a single treatment plant has been set up in the city in the last two decades even as per 2011 Census, the city recorded a decadal growth of 17.32% in its population adding to its municipal sewage manifold.
“As per 2011 Census, although Varanasi recorded a decadal growth of 17.32% in its population, its sewage treatment capacity remained 102MLD only that was created after the launch of Ganga Action Plan (GAP) in 1986. Though two sewage treatment plants (STPs) with a combined capacity of 260 MLD have been sanctioned in the second phase of GAP, they are yet to come on the floor,” said a city planning expert.
The PM held a meeting of Namami Gange, the mission to clean and rejuvenate the holy river, in New Delhi on Tuesday and talked of motivating industrial units to recycle waste besides punishing the violators, said a PIB press release. It was pointed out that a total of 764 grossly polluting industrial units have been identified along the Ganga that include tanneries, sugar industries and pulp and paper factories.
In Varanasi the major source of pollution is municipal sewage (around 400 MLD). However, as per the office of regional centre of UP Pollution Control Board, there are about 80 small and big industrial units in the PM’s constituency and adjoining districts including Jaunpur, Bhadohi and Ghazipur.
“In comparison to municipal sewage the generation of industrial effluents is negligible in this region. About 270 KLD industrial effluents are generated in this region,” said the regional officer of UPPCB Dr. Mohammed Sikander. He claimed that action is being taken against the offenders. “We have closed a dyeing unit in Jaunpur while action has been initiated against five dyeing units in Bhadohi,” said Sikander.
But, this is not sufficient to rejuvenate the holy river, which gives life to millions of people, said noted environmental scientist at Banaras Hindu University and expert member of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) Prof. BD Tripathi. “Accurate quantity and quality of waste water (sewage, industrial effluents and laboratory chemicals) should be assessed for long term environmental planning,” he said.
According to him, point pollution sources like municipal sewage and toxic industrial effluents should be treated in specific treatment plants, and suitability and economic viability of the new STPs should be ensured before their establishment. For economic saving, old and existing STPs be upgraded/modified in light of their past drawbacks and recent advances in wastewater treatment technologies.