KARACHI: Treatment plants add to city’s sewage mess
KARACHI, Oct 26: At a time when the sewerage system of several localities of the old city has already collapsed, Mehmoodabad’s sewage treatment plant (STP-II) has almost stopped functioning, resulting in overflowing gutters and contamination of water in different localities hooked to the plant.
Sewage gushing out from various choked gutters and sewers has inundated different sections of various roads and streets in many localities, causing a filthy environment and creating a hindrance in the smooth flow of traffic.
The sewerage system of the old city, which also disposes of the sewage of Saddar, became ineffective on Wednesday when a 72-inch diameter sewer sank near the PIDC House while the Mehmoodabad treatment plant, which caters to the needs of Mehmoodabad, Karachi Administration Society, Chanesar Goth, PECHS’ E Market Area and adjoining localities, became ineffective after its capacity for treating sewage dwindled from 46 million gallons of sewage per day to less than 15mgd now.
The localities and major arteries which suffered most in the wake of the collapsed sewerage system include Kharadar, Mithadar, Haqqani Chowk, Ramaswami, Ranchore Lane, Bhimpura, Light House, Cinema Market, Sir Abdullah Haroon Road, the area near Zainab Market, parts of M.A. Jinnah Road, specially near Tibet Centre, Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road, different sections of Shahrah-i-Iraq, Burnes Road, Mir Karam Ali Talpur Road, Daudpota Road and several adjoining streets.
Expressing concern over the prevailing filthy environment, PECHS Social Welfare Society’s General Secretary Mohammad Aijaz Abbasi said that along with creating an unhygienic atmosphere, the overflowing sewage from choked gutters and the resultant stagnant water had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
He said that since water started overflowing from gutters, complaints of contaminated water had also increased in the affected localities, as a result of which a number of people, particularly children and the elderly, were suffering from diarrhoea, malaria and other diseases.
Residents of the old city area and Saddar also echoed similar complaints.
With regard to the 72-inch diameter sewage line of the old city that has sunk, KWSB officials hoped that the sewerage system of all the affected localities would be restored by Sunday.
Plants not at optimum
Talking about the existing condition of the KWSB’s treatment plants, sources said that the STP-II (Mehmoodabad) which was built in 1959 with a designed capacity of treating 46mgd of sewage was nowadays treating less than 15mgd.
Similarly the STP-1, which was also installed in 1959 at Site, has a capacity of treating 51mgd sewage but it was treating only 25mgd while the STP-III, which was set up in Maripur in 1998 with a designed capacity of 54mgd, is treating only 35mgd. “All the three treatment plants of the KWSB are, at present, treating less than 75mgd of the total 400mgd of sewage produced in the city while the remaining 320mgd of untreated sewage is disposed of into the sea, posing a serious threat to marine life and disturbing the marine eco-system, besides affecting vital port installations,” the sources said.
Citing the reasons for the low output of all the three sewage treatment plants, the sources said these include a poor maintenance system, lack of a conveyance system for carrying the sewage to the STPs and low efficiency of the STPs’ equipment.
Elaborating, they said that though the KWSB had proposed the rehabilitation of all the three STPs for optimising their capacity at an estimated cost of Rs1 billion, it is not known when such a plan would actually be implemented.
KARACHI, Oct 26: At a time when the sewerage system of several localities of the old city has already collapsed, Mehmoodabad’s sewage treatment plant (STP-II) has almost stopped functioning, resulting in overflowing gutters and contamination of water in different localities hooked to the plant.
