57.
ITS APRIL FOOLS DAY FOLKS – GRIN AND BEAR IT
On
the First day of April 2015 ( April Fools Day Y’all) I was woken up from my
morning stupor, all shook up, shocked and awed and stunned upon reading a glowing tribute heaped on a Sewage Treatment Plant
(STP) that apparently performs miracles
day in and day out in a mega apartment complex on Bannerghatta Road,
Bangalore. An eminently newsworthy
article in the Public interest no doubt which should serve to enthuse and goad other
similar communities to aspire for similar great contributions to a worthy
social cause.
Read
all about this minor miracle in the Bangalore Mirror edition dated what else
but April 01, 2015.
The
cub reporter of the rag goes on to blithely and dutifully narrate the story fed
her by the extremely environmentally conscious, socially responsible community
that the treated water from the STP will be used to rejuvenate the neighbouring
Puttenahalli lake and “raise its water level”. No doubt this philanthropic
community had also done a serious scientific study on the areal extent of the lake, permeability of the lake bed,
solar evaporation rate of water from its surface, evapotranspiration rate
from flora drawing sustenance and other such sundry losses from the lake to arrive at
that happy, self congratulatory conclusion.
The
story does not end here. Reportedly, for several
months previously, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, that August
body tasked to protect and preserve the Environment in Karnataka by an Act of Parliament, had allegedly tested the STP water
and found the quality to be fit for “raising the water level” in Puttenahalli
Lake. And in consequence, the KSPCB had
apparently given its nod by the shake of its head to go ahead and fill up the
lake with STP water, and a promise of a written permission to follow the very
next day.
Having
seen and studied first hand hundreds of STP’s in Bangalore in over 30 years of
being in this very business, and likewise having dealt with the KSPCB for the
same length of time, all these claims of
the “pinch of salt variety “ woke me from my morning stupor, all shook up, shocked and... …………
etc.
By
a queer turn of events, about a month ago we conducted an audit of this very
same glorified STP with a view to determine whether we would be interested in
taking up Operation and maintenance of the Plant on a long term basis. This is our Company’s mandatory procedure and
precondition before we enter into any such contract. We do a thorough audit of the STP as part of
due diligence to satisfy ourselves that we would be in a position to deliver
satisfactory performance from the existing setup. And if not, what further refurbishment,
upgradation and surgery that would be required to bring the STP up to scratch.
The
result of the audit comes as no surprise to me.
I have been maintaining for several years now and shouting from the
rooftops to all and sundry who care to listen, including the KSPCB , the
Government of Karnataka, the Lokayukta etc., that more than 80 % of the STP’s
in Bangalore are in various stages of disrepair and for all practical purposes
are either defunct or dead. And so was
the case with this STP. The Design and
engineering of the plant was such that it could handle not more than 50 % of
the sewage generated from this complex.
Only mother earth knows where the rest of untreated sewage is discharged
through a pipeline buried deep inside her.
What
worries me even more is that there was absolutely no due diligence on part of
the Newspaper which carried the story.
No due diligence by the KSPCB which certified the STP to be Aces.
Or
was it all an elaborate April Fools day prank that I ought to simply grin and bear it ? I am glad I have made my peace with such
crass display of monumental ignorance, incompetence, apathy and indeed deliberate
falsehood. Try as they might, these good
folks certainly cannot ” raise my BP”.
Dr.
Ananth S Kodavasal September
14, 2015
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