Each day, 73% of 201 million litres of sewerage in Srinagar goes untreated into Dal, Jhelum

Srinagar, Sep 6: Seventy-three per cent of the 201 Million Litres of sewage generated in the city daily goes untreated into Dal Lake or Jhelum, says an official report.
The report, from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), says the summer capital has the capacity to treat 53.8 Million Litres of the sewage daily.
The remaining over 150 Million Litres of the waste goes untreated into the water bodies, it says.
“Existing treatment capacity is just 27 per cent of present sewage generation. This evidently indicates ominous position of sewage treatment, which is the main source of pollution of the rivers and lakes,” the report says.
“Disposal of untreated sewage into water bodies including Dal Lake and Jhelum is one of the main reasons for degradation of the quality of water.”
The discharge of sewage into water, according to the report, causes many problems like eutrophication, spread of diseases, and augmentation of demand parameters like biochemical oxygen demand, and depletion of dissolved oxygen.
“Further, to make the matters worse, the available treatment facility is not effectively utilized as many areas like Jogilankar, Motiyar, Nayadyar, etc. are yet to be connected with functional sewage treatment plant (STP) through intermediate pump stations,” it adds.
The report has been prepared on the samples collected from 17 designated locations on monthly basis in Dal Lake.
Another contributing factor to the swelling pollution levels is improper and unscientific dumping/disposal of solid waste, the report says.
It has recommended improvement in the water quality of rivers and lakes.
“There is an urgent need to increase sewage capacity and its optimum utilization.”
The report has suggested filling the gap in minimum time frame by setting up small STPs on existing sewer lines rather than big ones, which will save time for laying new sewer lines.
“There is an urgent need to plug in these point source of pollution or to divert these drains to nearby STPs if available,” it says.
Director SPCB Syed Nadeem Hussain said, “The need of the hour is to tap the untreated areas, which mostly fall in old city. It would be advisable to create mini STPs in these spaces which will prove useful in curbing the menace of untreated sewage.”