The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has directed officials to speed up work on the Ghatkopar Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and the adjoining pumping station, setting March 31, 2027, as the deadline for completing the treatment facility and December 2026 for the pumping station upgrade.
During an inspection of the project on July 11, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar reviewed the progress of the 337-million-litres-per-day (MLD) STP and the ongoing modernisation of the Ghatkopar Pumping Station. He instructed officials to utilise the current break in monsoon rains to accelerate construction activities.
Bangar directed the project team to deploy additional manpower, undertake simultaneous execution of multiple work stages and adopt detailed micro-planning to ensure timely completion. He said, “The project could be completed ahead of schedule if the work is carried out in a well-planned and coordinated manner.”
According to the BMC, the pumping station has achieved 85 per cent physical progress. Civil repairs, machinery replacement, installation of higher-capacity pumps and laying of rising mains are currently underway. Officials have been asked to complete the remaining work by December, given the facility’s importance to Mumbai’s sewage network.
The new STP is expected to improve the quality of treated wastewater released into the sea, benefiting marine biodiversity and enhancing seawater quality along Mumbai’s coastline. It will also strengthen sewage treatment services for residents of Ghatkopar, Mankhurd, Govandi and Chembur.
The civic body said construction is being carried out while keeping the existing sewage treatment plant operational. Before commissioning the new facility, the existing lagoon will be desilted and the extracted sludge will be scientifically treated and disposed of.
The project is being implemented in a sensitive ecological zone surrounded by a creek, forest land and the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary. Awarded to GVPR Engineers Ltd. in May 2022, the project will use Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) technology to treat 337 MLD of sewage, including tertiary treatment for 170 MLD, significantly improving treatment standards over the existing primary treatment system.
Source: Mid-day
