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| 3 obsolete STPs strangle Dal | | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Sept 17: Dal lake has three Sewagae Treatment Plants (STP) but all of them are obsolete, meaning thereby that un-treated sewage goes into the lake.
The Srinagar city generates 20 crore litres of sewage every day. Most of the untreated sewage goes into Dal Lake due to lack of STPs around the Dal.
"Disposal of untreated sewage into water bodies including Dal Lake and Jhelum is one of the main reasons for degradation of the quality of water," an official report of the government says.
"Further, to make the matters worse, the available treatment facility is not effectively utilized as many areas like Jogilankar, Motiyar, Nayadyar, etc. are yet to be connected with functional sewage treatment plant (STP) through intermediate pump stations," it adds.
The report has suggested filling the gap in minimum time frame by setting up small STPs on existing sewer lines rather than big ones, which will save time for laying new sewer lines.
"There is an urgent need to plug in these point source of pollution or to divert these drains to nearby STPs if available," it says.
For checking the pollution of Dal, the upgrading of three oldest sewage treatment plants (STP) at Lam, Habak and Hazratbal is still on paper. The three STPs cover areas from Dalgate to Hazratbal basin.
An official said, "The three STPs run on the obsolete technology and need immediate upgradation."
He said that proposals have been submitted to the government. "We don't know when they will be accepted," he said.
Besides, the obsolete technology, the official said, the locality of Saida Kadal was supposed to be handled by the Urban Environmental Engineering Department. "Despite the releasing of funds, the UEED is sleeping over the matter from the last thirteen years," he claimed.
At the same time, the government has spent over Rs 650 crore since 2005, there has been no improvement in its condition over the years.
An official of the Housing and Urban Development Department said that over Rs 650 crore have been spent on three conservation projects in the last 13 years. "There has been no change in its improvement. Even the government has failed to upgrade or replace three STPs," the official said.
The official said around Rs 10 crore have been spent on dredging in the last three years.
The environment lovers have expressed dismay over deteriorating condition of the lake and government's "non-seriousness" in preserving it.
In a research on Dal Lake conducted by Dr Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head of the Earth Sciences Department at Kashmir University had said, "32% of the lake falls under severe degradation, 48% under medium degradation while as 20% of the lake waters are relatively clean."
The study says that lake has shrunk from "31 to 24 square km from 1859 to 2014". |
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