Mumbai: The environment department is set to develop a comprehensive plan aimed at preventing sewage from contaminating rivers and lakes while promoting the reuse of polluted water. Additionally, a technical cell will be established to implement innovative technologies for pollution control in municipal and metropolitan areas.
The announcement was made on Monday at 'Municipal Wastewater Management Gaps, Sustainability, and the Way Forward'. The conference was jointly held by the department of environment and climate change, MPCB and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B). The event was attended by environment minister Pankaja Munde, K H Govindrao, principal secretary of the urban development department 2, Dr Dhakne, among others.
Talking to this newspaper recently, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) member-secretary Dr Avinash Dhakne had said, “In Maharashtra, 4,500 MLD untreated municipal sewage enters rivers and lakes.”
During the event, Munde highlighted that large volumes of untreated sewage from village panchayats, municipal corporations and metropolitan areas directly enter rivers. She also pointed out that pesticides used in agriculture contribute to water pollution.
A dedicated technical cell will be set up to train local governing bodies in innovative wastewater management technologies. Meanwhile, Govindrao called for the establishment of wastewater treatment plants, awareness campaigns, and interdepartmental cooperation to effectively tackle this challenge.
In 2018, the state had 53 river stretches that were under category I pollution level, Dr Dhakne said recently. By 2024, the pollution in the majority of the stretches have been brought down in the range of categories IV and V, he pointed out. The state government targets to reach zero untreated sewage emission into water bodies by 2029.
(With inputs from Devashri Bhujbal)
