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PMC unlikely to achieve 100% sewage treatment before 2029
Despite having the highest number of STPs in Maharashtra, PMC will not be able to treat all sewage generated in the city before 2029, said officials
PUNE: Despite having the highest number of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Maharashtra and spending crores on upgrades, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will not be able to treat all sewage generated in the city before 2029.
The civic body had earlier set a target of achieving 100% sewage treatment for the old city limits by 2026. But after the merger of 32 villages, officials now say the full citywide target will be possible only by 2029.
Jagdish Khanore, head of PMC’s drainage department, said the corporation has been expanding its treatment capacity for years, even before the Supreme Court mandated that urban bodies release only treated water into rivers. “It is the ground reality that despite having the highest number of plants in the state, we will not be able to treat 100% sewage yet. But by the end of 2026, PMC will achieve full treatment for the old city areas,” he said.
PMC’s work is split into three phases–the first involves overhauling all 10 older STPs after norms were revised; tenders for reconstruction and technology upgrades have already been issued. The second phase includes STPs under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded Mula-Mutha pollution abatement project, expected to be completed by 2026. The third phase covers new plants for the merged villages, which will take another three to four years.
Civic activist Vivek Velenkar said, “Although PMC treats and releases water into the river, the irrigation department has still not begun lifting this treated water for irrigation as agreed earlier. PMC had set up a jackwell at Mundhwa for this purpose.”
PMC currently treats around 600 MLD of the 980 MLD sewage generated across the city — 883 MLD from the old city and 97 MLD from the merged areas. With new STPs, treatment capacity is expected to rise to about 1,000 MLD.
The city’s annual water quota is 17 TMC, including the Bhama Askhed supply, but PMC draws around 21 TMC and is seeking to raise this to 24 TMC to meet rising demand.
