10.7.13

Somewhere in Ahmedabad....

Narmada waters will not flow through the Sabarmati forever. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is getting its act together to replace the borrowed waters with treated sewage water of the city. Officials say this is the first project of its kind in the country.
AMC officials said that once the Sardar Sarovar dam’s canal network is completed, the Narmada will not have enough water for the Sabarmati. They have put up a Rs 250-crore proposal in the standing committee to seek approval from the state government to ensure that 110 million litres of bathing quality treated water replaces the Narmada water.
The objective of the project, which will take at least three years to completion, is to keep the Sabarmati flowing with water that supports aquatic life. It will also help farmers in 43 villages downstream to get much cleaner water to irrigate their fields. Many of them use toxic waters to grow vegetables that are then sold in the city.
However, the cost of the water may be a factor. Sources in Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (SRFDCL) said treating sewage and purifying it to bathing quality would cost Rs 12 per 1,000 litres at current rates. In stark contrast, Narmada water costs the AMC only Rs 1.60 per 1,000 litres. AMC has approached the state government for 60 per cent funding.
“Our engineers have been visiting treatment plants across the country and abroad. We have zeroed in on a special membrane that helps treat sewage water,” said municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra.
The civic body plans to divert 60 million litres of sewage from the Pirana treatment plant and the sewage flowing within the interceptor drainage lines along the riverfront to a special tertiary treatment facility before draining it in the river. “This is the first such project in the country where highly treated sewage water will be used for river revival. We are also raising a water treatment facility near Kotarpur that will produce drinking water,” said Mohapatra.

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