Untreated pollutants get released daily from Ghansoli STP

Navi Mumbai: A multi crore sewage treatment plant (STP) constructed by the CIDCO with the capacity to treat 30 million litres of waste per day in sector 15 of Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai has remained non-operational solely due to dispute over land ownership. As a result, several lakhs of litres of water with untreated pollutants is being released directly into the Thane creek, leading to major environmental and health concerns.

As per the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) records, presently 19 MLD sewage water is getting released from the plant untreated on a regular basis. The damage caused to the environment is huge, say environmentalists.

The plant, built by CIDCO, was handed over to NMMC in 2016. It is constructed on a land admeasuring 45,000 sq m with primary as well as secondary treatment facilities which works on the of Cyclic Activated Sludge Treatment technology using advanced Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) process.

Senior officials from NMMC related that the plant remains non-operational most of the days. “The land on which the plant is constructed is in dispute. “While according to CIDCO’s records there was only one owner whose dues has been cleared but there is another villager staking claim on another portion of the land and time to time creates hurdles in the operations,” said NMMC city engineer Sanjay Desai.

Corroborating the understanding is a response given by NMMC to an information sought under Right to information Act by the contesting villager’s son Nitesh Patil. As per the response given, almost 9,600 sq m area within the STP is revealed to be not developed due to existing structures. “Government has usurped almost 21 Guntas belonging to my father and has not even paid us any remuneration for it. Our family home still exists on the said plot so how can our claim be termed illegal. Even NMMC has officially acknowledged in the application made under RTI that the land rightfully belongs to my father Kanha Ramdas Patil,” said Patil.

CIDCO meanwhile has shirked off its responsibility of addressing the deadlock. “ NMMC was always wary of taking over the plant from CIDCO from the beginning itself as the issue of title not being clear was already known. However, following the handover, multiple letters have been made to CIDCO to sort out the matter. In the most recent meeting, CIDCO maintains it has no records of the other person and the onus of taking any further action is the corporation’s lookout,’ said a senior official from NMMC.

Civic administration has stated that it is seeking police protection to get the plant operational, but activists are questioning the stop gap arrangement. “The bureaucratic haggles are putting both residents and the environment at risk. Already the city’s air quality index is at an all-time low and now adding to this is the release of stagnated water into the creek which is known for its rich fauna,” said the director of NatConnect foundation, BN Kumar. The foundation has already raised the matter with the Human Rights Commission and has even brought the issue to the notice of the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. “ The CMO has asked the Urban development department Principal Secretary Aseem Gupta to investigate it. Due to the conflict between CIDCO and the villagers, it is posing detrimental to Navi Mumbai’s environment,” said Kumar.

Affirming the aftermath is Nandakumar Pawar- head of Marine division of NGO Vanashakti. “Untreated sewage water into the creek will impact the marine vegetation on which the migratory birds feed,” said Pawar. CIDCO officials remained unavailable for comment.