Tiruchi Corporation has decided to dismantle the existing sewage treatment plant at Panchapur to make way for the new integrated bus terminus.
The civic body constructed the plant in 1995 with a capacity of 87 MLD, It was built to process and treat sewage collected as part of Phase-I of the underground drainage project. The treated sewage water is being let on open land. The Corporation follows waste stabilisation pond technique to absorb the treated water.
Though the plant has a capacity of 87 MLD, it uses 57 MLD of sewage water. It had planned to make use of the remaining infrastructure to treat the sewage water to be collected from household UGD connections, which are to be connected in Phase-II of the UGD project. It also began the preliminary work about a year ago to form waste stabilisation ponds in the unused tract of land allotted to the STP.
But it halted the work midway once the DMK government that assumed office in May revived the plan of establishing an integrated bus terminus at Panchapur. The Corporation subsequently appointed a Bengaluru-based consultant to prepare the Detailed Project Report for the bus terminus project.
Officials feel that the site, where the sewage treatment plant and waste stabilisation ponds are located, is the best location to allot land to build the bus terminus and commercial complex as the STP is located just a few metres from the Tiruchi-Madurai highway.
Corporation Commissioner P.M.N. Mujibur Rahuman told The Hindu that it had been decided to abort and dismantle the existing STP to make way for the new bus terminus. Moreover, there was no need to continue with the old technique of processing and treating sewage as it required huge tracts of land. A number of new techniques had emerged to treat the sewage water and a few methods were under consideration for establishing a modern STP.
Mr. Rahuman said land would be allotted for the new STP at a remote corner of 574 acres of the Corporation land at Panchapur. Provisions would be made to treat sewage water being collected from the households of both Phase-I and II UGD project.