100-mld sewage plant at Hebbal to open soon

The BWSSB will soon commission the new sewage treatment plant at Hebbal, which can treat 100 mld of wastewater flowing into the Hebbal valley that once nurtured Dakshina Pinakini, the river originating in Nandi Hills on the northern outskirts of Bengaluru.

The Rs 250-crore project, supposed to have been completed last year, was delayed following an on-site accident that killed three engineers last year.

A BWSSB official said some work was pending, which would be completed in the next few days. The treated water in the Hebbal valley will recharge the groundwater, an official said.

The total sewage load in the Hebbal valley is 288 mld, of which only 185 mld is being treated at two 40-mld capacity STPs located next to stormwater drains, the old 60-mld STP in Hebbal, Horamavu STP (20 mld), Jakkur STP (15 mld) and Yelahanka (10 mld).

The commissioning of the new STP would have brought the sewage flow to the lake to near-zero were it not for the rehabilitation of the old 60-mld plant in Hebbal. “The plant was built in 1990 and has almost stopped working. There is an urgent need for rehabilitation work. We will take it up soon and hope to finish in about a year,” another official said.

Officials have warned that linking the 110 villages (that were added to the BBMP in 2007) to the underground sewage line network would bring additional loads of sewage, which would need more treatment plants.

“Housing projects in these villages are rising. While we do not have to worry about apartments which have their own treatment plants, there are still many properties whose wastewater has to be treated,” a senior official said.