Pavana river still carrying sewage water from broken drains

PUNE With the city witnessing heavy showers, the Pavana river too is overflowing but not just with rainwater

PUNE With the city witnessing heavy showers, the Pavana river too is overflowing but not just with rainwater. There are a lot of pollutants floating along as well, thanks to leakages in the sewage drainage lines built along the river.

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Environmental activist Ganesh Bora was among the first to spot sewage drifting along the river. “The monsoon has caused rivers to swell from one bank to the other, and we saw a lot of sewage gliding along. Later while walking along the banks, we saw the broken sewage lines from where drainage water was flowing into the river,” he said.

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), in a survey, identified pollution in the Pavana river and its tributaries flowing about 20km from Dapodi to Ravet. Six major drains namely, Ravet Nala near Ravet STP, Garware Nala Near Bhatnagar, Kalasagar Nala, Chinchwad Nala near SBR 30 MLD STP, Gavade Colony Nala near Manikbag, Chinchwad Station Nala near By Bombay Selection, and the nala near Sandvik were found to be contributing to the pollution.

Following the MPCB survey and the 2019-20 Environment Status Report published by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), the PCMC was issued warning and also served a court order for polluting the Pawana river. Soon after, work began on building an interceptor drainage line to curb the discharge of sewage water into the Pavana river however it is going on at a snail’s pace, defeating the very purpose for which it was undertaken.

On his part, Sanjay Kulkarni, environment officer, PCMC, said, “The plan of building an interceptor drainage line is still underway, and has been delayed due to Covid-19 and also due to litigation over land acquisition. But this year we should have the drainage line in place.”

Commenting on the issue, Kiran Hasabnis, sub-regional officer, MPCB, said, “It is true that we found that sewage water is indeed flowing into the Pavana river and that there are breaks in the drainage lines. While in some areas, there is still no proper sewage network. The PCMC has a total sewage generation and treatment capacity of 353 MLD but the sewage treatment plant (STP) holds around 312 MLD and treats only 287 MLD of sewage. The difference of 32 MLD is discharged into the river.”

Hasabnis however added that the PCMC plans to bridge this gap in sewage treatment by installing a new 210km drainage line under the AMRUT scheme which was to be completed by 2020, and five new STPs with a capacity of 62 MLD proposed to be built at different locations.

The Pavana river originates from the Pavana lake near Lonavala and flows a total distance of 60km to meet the Mula river at Sangvi near Pune. Along its journey, the river flows through Kalewadi, Punawale, Chinchwad and Pimpri.

It has been reported that the river is severely polluted due to sewage (untreated and treated) and garbage from these cities and their suburbs. The accumulation of silt and discharge of untreated waste are the major causes of pollution in the river.