Hyderabad: 31 STPs to be operational by June

Hyderabad: Hyderabad would be the first city in the country to treat 100 per cent of its the sewage as the State government is contemplating to complete and take up the operation of 31 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in the City by June this year.

With a total treatment capacity of 1,258 MLD (million litres per day), the State government spent over Rs 3,800 crore. The existing treatment capacity of the City is 772 million litres per day and according to the officials, the City is spread across an area of about 670 square kilometres and 46.8 per cent of the State's population resides in Hyderabad and as a result the amount of sewage discharged is much higher, therefore, the State government had stepped in to construct 31 STPs in the City.

The State government proposes to use this treated water in construction, landscaping, horticulture and thermal plant furnace-cooling activities among others. Along with the dreadful amount of sewage, the City generates around 6,000 tonnes of waste per day, which was 3,500 tonnes per day in 2015.

An official said that the government is working with a three-pronged strategy involving sewage treatment, effective management of run-off water and solid waste management to promote sustainable practices and a circular economy.

The STP completion deadline has been missed several times as it was initially said that it would be operational by October 2022 and later it was postponed to April 2023 and now the Municipal Administration Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar has said that this time the STPs would be operational by June.

Arvind Kumar also said that the Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao wanted Hyderabad to be among the top 25 cities of the world and as part of it a lot of infrastructure development is taking place in the City.