To improve drinking water quality, BMC to build STPs at areas polluting lake water

Earlier this week, civic chief Praveen Pardeshi directed the hydraulics department to survey these areas for hutments or settlements.

In order to improve the quality of drinking water across the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now construct sewage treatment plants (STPs) at settlements contaminating lakes which supply water to Mumbai. The civic body will also shift hutments which are within a 10-m radius of drinking water pipelines.

Representative image (Praful Gangurde/Hindustan Times)

Earlier this week, civic chief Praveen Pardeshi directed the hydraulics department to survey these areas for hutments or settlements. Additional municipal commissioner Pravin Darade, in-charge of the project, said, “Wherever we notice settlements near the lakes or pipelines, we will construct STPs. Our survey will be able to tell if there are any cases where used household water enters the drinking water system.”

Chief engineer of the hydraulics department, Ashok Tawadia, said they are primarily focusing on the patch between Mulund and Thane, where a number of huts line the water pipelines. “If there are any huts within 10m of the pipelines, we will have to move them. The lakes don’t need much work as they are intact. As this is a forest area, there are no encroachments,” said Tawadia.

The seven lakes supplying water to the city are 70km away and BMC is now surveying pipelines along this distance for encroachments. Tawadia said they have also written to the sewage department.

BMC has been working on overhauling its water supply network to improve the quality of drinking water. It has converted all on-surface steel water pipelines to underground concrete ones and changed water pipelines lying close to sewer lines in the past few years.