Aundh STP gets green signal from institute for de-reservation of heritage land

PUNE: After a five-year wait, the proposed Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded sewage treatment plant (STP) at Aundh which is part of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) Mula-Mutha pollution abatement project, last week got the green signal from the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), Rahuri, as regards de-reserving 0.33 hectare of land from the biodiversity heritage site for the purpose. Of the 11 proposed STPs being funded by JICA as part of a central government scheme, 10 are already under construction.
The Nagpur-based Maharashtra Biodiversity Heritage Board will take the final call on granting the land to the PMC. The PMC has sent a letter to the board, requesting temporary permission to begin work as formal de-reservation of land from the heritage site will take time due to procedural requirements. The proposed STP on a section of the 33-acre Botanical Garden in Aundh remains on hold. The land, owned by the MPKV, was designated a biodiversity heritage site in a gazette notification issued on August 31, 2020.
A senior official of the PMC said that last week, the MPKV executive council approved a proposal to de-reserve the land from the biodiversity heritage site for setting up of the STP. “The declaration of a biodiversity heritage site comes under the National Biodiversity Act. As such, any amendment to the gazette notification will have to be carried out by the central government and will take time due to procedural requirements. Therefore, we have sent a letter to the biodiversity heritage board to allow us working permission to start the STP work,” the official said.
“We have carried out surveys and soil inspection and testing. After approval of the working conditions, we will start work. We have started work on 10 out of the total 11 STPs. Work on only one STP in the Aundh area has not yet started,” the official said.
Under the JICA project, the PMC is constructing 11 new STPs in different parts of the city to reduce pollution in the Mula-Mutha river. The project will create an additional treatment capacity of 396 million litre per day (MLD) over and above the existing treatment capacity of 477 MLD, and result in the laying of 55 km of sewer lines and renovation/rehabilitation of four existing intermediate pumping stations. Once the project is completed by 2025, the total STP capacity available in Pune will be 988.50 MLD which will be sufficient to cater to sewage generation for the year 2027.
The PMC has got ₹120 crore in funds from the central government so far, out of which the PMC has spent ₹165 crore till date. Work on the proposed STPs is going on at Hadapsar, Naidu Hospital, Dhanori, Bhairoba Nullah, Warje, Wadgaon, Mundhwa and Tanajiwadi. The aim of the river rejuvenation project is to keep the Mula-Mutha river clean. As PMC is unable to treat the sewage generated in the city properly, most of the sewage mixes with the river water. By constructing new STPs, the PMC plans to collect 100% sewage and only release treated water into the river to keep it clean.