Treatment plant project fails: Ulhasnagar nullah still pollutes Ulhas river

The project of stopping Khemani nullah water flowing into the Ulhas river has failed despite several efforts by local activists and residents to build pressure on

The project of stopping Khemani nullah water flowing into the Ulhas river has failed despite several efforts by local activists and residents to build pressure on the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC).

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The polluted Khemani nullah water mixes with the Ulhasnagar river water, which is a source of drinking water for lakhs of population in Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar and Ambernath.

Last year, UMC had taken up the work of stopping the Khemani nullah water entering the Ulhas river by diverting it to a pumping station and then sending it to a treatment plant. The work was completed but there is no proper functioning of the pumping station due to huge amount of plastic waste dumped into the nullah.

Activists said the ₹37-crore project is a waste of money as the nullah water continues to enter the river.

“The project if implemented will improve the river water quality. The civic body has ignored the fact that plastic dumped into the nullah is a hurdle in the treatment process,” said Sashikant Dayma, founder of Waldhuni Biradari NGO that works for conservation of Ulhas-Waldhuni river.

“The plastic gets stuck while treating water and work stops for two three days. The work of lifting water from the pumping station and sending it to the treatment plant is not done regularly. First, there is a need to curb dumping of plastic into the nullah,” added Dayma.

The pumping house which the UMC has built for Khemani nullah has been functional for the past eight months. A total of 10 mld of sewage from the 4-km-long Khemani nullah is treated at the pumping house. The plant can treat 16 mld of sewage.

An officer from UMC, who did not wish to be named, said, “The work to repair the pumping station will be carried out soon. Plastic is being continuously dumped into the nullah and this should stop.”