Vadodara: Ahead of its inauguration, a major row took place at Rajivnagar sewage treatment plant (STP) of Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). Some residents ransacked the office of the plant and broke the window panes there on Wednesday morning.
Residents of the surrounding residential societies were peeved at the fact that the STP was raising a stink. They claimed that this would lead to health issues in the area and had become a major nuisance.
This is not the first time that the residents have opposed the STP. Before work began on the STP, the residents had made representations to VMC stating that the STP was coming up amid residential societies and should be shifted somewhere else.
The residents were convinced that the STP was state-of-the-art and would take care of drainage woes in the area. The work on the facility was kicked off at the hands of the then chief minister Anandiben Patel in 2016.
The work has now been completed and trial runs were started a couple of days ago. The VMC is looking to get the project inaugurated at the hands of chief minister Vijay Rupani next week.
VMC officials said there was no representation or complaint to them regarding the stench till the incident on Wednesday. “There is some smell presently, but it is just at the plant and not the surrounding areas. Once the plant becomes fully functional, this will not happen. The parameters for the performance of the plant include odour control,” said an official.
The official added that the problem will persist for a few days till the biomass at the plant gets completely activated.
“The plant is a tertiary treatment plant that will generate water that can be used in industries and other places,” the officer said. The plant has a capacity of 78 million litres per day (MLD).
The sewage treatment plant at Rajivnagar