Govt rule to allow sale of treated water brings relief to apartments

Bengaluru: The decision to allow the sale of treated water seems to be the government’s answer to the longstanding problem of the apartments with excess treated water but the KSPCB is staring at a long road to ensure the new rules are implemented.

The existing rules prescribe that apartments with more than 20 residential units or built-up area of 2000 square metres or above have to install a sewage treatment plant (STP) and utilise the treated water in-house.

Bengaluru is estimated to have about 3500 apartments. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has issued consent for the establishment of the STPs and consent for operation (CFO). The CFO is renewed periodically after ensuring that the plant is functioning as per the guidelines.

However, sources in KSPCB said implementation of the rules has become a challenge. “We are functioning with 40% of the sanctioned employees. The shortage of manpower has hindered the regular inspection of the STPs. We need to inspect at least the red category STPs (with a capacity of more than 100 kld). We have now begun a survey to understand the number of apartments with STPs,” an official said.

While the rules issued in 2016 mandate buildings with over 20 units or 2000 sq metres must have sewage treatment plants (STP), officials acknowledged the difficulty in enforcing the rule of inhouse use of the treated water.

“Even at the big apartment complexes with parks and lawns, the usage of treated water is between 40% to 50%. At the smaller ones, enforcing the use of treated water is not feasible,” the official said.

Pending cases

Sources said the total number of pending applications in the KSPCB, including those related to industries and applications pending at regional offices, crossed 1250 at the end of February. “The member secretary held special sittings to clear the cases. Some of these applications were incomplete. Due to the delay on our part, we have been told not to reject applications but to seek additional information from the proponents to ensure compliance. About 350 applications were cleared within the last two weeks,” the source said.

The KSPCB has also been sitting on scores of applications seeking renewal of CFO for STPs. Officials said the renewal, especially of the red category STPs of above 100 kld capacity, is cleared after looking into the reports about the quality of the water. “There have been cases of delay because of various reasons, including the procedure of obtaining reports from the local officer. We will look into the matters and take action accordingly,” the officer said.

To a question, KSPCB Member Secretary H C Balachandra said efforts were being made to ensure that applicants do not suffer further delay. “The matter was raised in the board meeting as well. We have taken up the issue on priority by streamlining the procedure. Applications related to renewal will be cleared soon,” he said.