Netsol Water Solutions

KOLKATA: After trident lights, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has found itself in the midst of another scam - this time over the silt extracted from the city's clogged sewer lines. A special audit ordered by the controller of municipal audit and accounts (CMFA) Debatosh Dasgupta has revealed that 11 contractors engaged in carrying silt from the city's manholes to the Dhapa dumping ground submitted fake bills to the tune of Rs 40 lakh. Acting tough, mayor Sovan Chatterjee on Monday asked the KMC drainage department to delete the names of these contractors from the civic register. But the malpractice appears to have been going on for years and civic officials are still in the dark about the total loss to the civic exchequer because of it. It was Dasgupta who smelt a rat in February when he received files for payment to trucks carrying silt to Dhapa. He sent some of the bills to the civic officials manning the computerized weigh bridge at the Dhapa dumping ground to be v

MYSORE: Being evacuated from houses during floods and other natural disasters is one thing, but residents of Mahadevapura extension in Srirampurapanchayat of Mysore taluk have been forced to evacuate from their houses as their surroundings are flooded by sewage water. Though residents have put their worries before the departments concerned, including deputy commissioner C Shikha, it has yielded no results. The problem has persisted from the past two months in this place which is just 8 km from the city. Having found no respite from officials, the residents have finally vacated their homes. The extension has about 400 houses. About two months ago, waste water from the underground drain (UGD) started accumulating in low-lying areas. Somanayak, a resident, says: "Sewage water earlier flowed through the sericulture department's UGD system. But after that was blocked, the water started to overflow and inundated couple of houses in the area, including mine." The block in the U

NOIDA: The Noida Authority plans to treat the waste water flowing into the city from Delhi at its sewage treatment plants (STPs). The purified water would be used by the Authority for irrigating green belts, construction and other purposes. IIT-Roorkee has been told to conduct a feasibility study for the project. It will submit its report within a month. About half a dozen drains empty into Noida every day. These drains flow from New Ashok Nagar and other areas of Delhi adjacent to Noida. The sewage would be channelized to the STPs soon after it enters the city to prevent pollution further downstream. "So far, we have been unable to check the pollution caused by these drains. The Authority has been fielding complaints about air pollution," said Samakant Srivastava, PE (Jal), Noida Authority. Officials said the waste water flowing through the drains also contaminates the city's groundwater sources. Noida has been categorized as a critically polluted area by the Central P

The residents of Balaji Nagar do not let their children play or ride their bicycles on the roads. They are scared that they may walk through or step into the sewage that constantly overflows on the roads, especially when it rains. Many other residential localities in Ambattur zone, like T V Nagar, Korattur, Padi, Nolambur and Ram Nagar, also do not have proper drainage facilities. Some parts of erstwhile Ambattur municipality were not provided with drainage connections and other parts have inadequate or incomplete sewerage systems. Regular sewage leaks pose a public health hazard in the zone. "We had only a temporary drain, built by a developer, which takes the sewage into the Cooum," says Vinu Nayyar, who lives in Balaji Nagar. "However, it often overflows because it is not meant for so many residents. It was laid more than 10 years ago. The locality now has around 175 apartments." In Nolambur, builders installed sewage treatment plants in apartments but they over

GURGAON: The stink emanating from the overflowing drain opposite Valley View Estate on Gurgaon-Faridabad Road has made the life of its over 1,200 residents difficult. The residents said that the city's civic agencies have failed to act despite repeated complaints while the situation has only turned from bad to worse due to rains.  "The situation has only deteriorated as the drain is blocked and there is no way for the sewage to flow. It may soon spread all over the main road," said Anil Mahajan, a resident.  The residents have written to both HUDA and MCG but to no respite. The land on which the drain water is overflowing belongs to a nearby village, and over the years has become a dump yard for construction materials. "The muddy water has turned green and the foul smell coming from it is intolerable. With mosquitoes breeding in it, the situation is now posing a threat to the health of the residents," said another resident Mahender Singh.  The sewage from the e

KOCHI: After failing in their two previous attempts, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) finally managed to locate the concrete sewage pipeline under MG Road between Padma Junction and Mullasserry Canal Road. In their third attempt, which began on Saturday night, DMRC found the pipe which was three-and-a-half metres away from the median at a depth of four metres. "In fact, we located the 450mm pipe near Doraiswamy Iyer Road. We verified the location of the pipe and found that it will not obstruct the construction site of Kochi Metro," said a DMRC official. Though he ruled out the need for shifting the pipelines, he said further plans would be formulated after holding discussions. The Metro authority dug up either side of the road despite heavy rains, and located the pipeline in the wee hours of Sunday. "We wanted to stick to our schedule," added the officer. The Metro agency relaid the road after verification. The pipeline search will now move to the stretch be

NAGPUR: Overflowing sewage from Nagpur Improvement Trust's trunk line in Himanshu Layout in Wathoda is posing a health hazard to the residents of the locality. After the heavy rains of June 25, the inter-septic trunk line constructed by NIT was damaged. The sewage flowed over to the road and took the shape of a pond. It is common to see stagnant sewage this area because of poor construction of sewage chambers and frequent blockage in the pipeline, allege residents. "A huge open plot where the water has accumulated has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Mosquito menace has reached alarming proportions forcing most of us to keep windows and doors closed," say residents. "Hundreds of residents of the area have to live with the nauseating smell of stagnant sewage water for the past few days. A mild shower is enough to drain the water right into our homes," said a miffed Himanshu Layout resident Chandrashekhar Pillay. "During monsoon, sewage and rai

MARGAO: Agitated over the decision of the Margao municipal council (MMC) to reject the proposal of Navelim MLA Avertano Furtado for accepting the garbage generated in Navelim at the Sonsoddo waste treatment plant, irate residents from Navelim on Thursday forcibly stopped the functioning of the sewage treatment plan(STP) at Sirvodem, Navelim, in protest. This led to some anxious moments leading to the intervention by South Goa collector N D Agrawal with a view to prevent the imminent crisis if the STP remained shut for long. Some bureaucratic maneuvering followed, and Agrawal rushed to the STP site later in the day and effected resumption of the plant. Furtado, speaking to mediapersons, said that he had extended his support to the Navelim residents who had approached him after the MMC refused to accept their garbage for treatment on Thursday. Furtado said that he has already spoken to chief minister Manohar Parrikar over the issue who has assured to hold a meeting with the MMC at

KOLKATA: East Kolkata Wetlands is one of 17 wetlands worldwide that is recognized for its wise use by Ramsar Convention, an inter-governmental treaty on conservation of wetlands of international importance to which India is a signatory. Situated along the city's eastern fringes, the sprawling wetlands comprising shallow fish farms, agricultural fields and villages act as the city's natural sewage treatment system as well as the local fish, rice and vegetable source. Mapped in 1985 by then environmental engineer Dhrubajyoti Ghosh, the 12,500-hectare unique ecosystem was listed as a Ramsar site in 2002. A decade later, the site has shrunk and the very existence of the ecosystem is under threat. And so is the survival of Kolkata. "If the bheris disappear, so will a natural sewage treatment system that has served Kolkata for over a century. If that happens, thousands of crores will have to be spent to build and run sewage treatment plants. Can the city afford to spend o

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 m

NAGPUR: Like many of Nagpur Municipal Corporation's (NMC) public private partnership (PPP) project, its sewage treatment plant project (STP) too seems headed for a controversy. Thought the state government has approved three STPs and a sewage collection system and sought funds (Rs1,328.88 crore) for it from the centre under the JNNURM phase-II, the civic body has chosen to construct it on PPP model. The standing committee will take a decision on it in on Friday. Mayor Anil Sole has also convened a general body meeting on July 18. According to the proposal, NMC is treating 80 million litres per day (MLD) sewage at its existing STP at Bhandewadi. The second STP with 130 MLD capacity is under construction at Bhandewadi and approved by the Centre under JNNURM. Besides, the Centre is all set to approve funds of Rs1,328.88 crore for establishing three STPs with 350 MLD capacity along with sewage collection system of 1,747.38km. The work order to construct four small STPs with total

New Delhi: The Delhi Parks and Gardens Society CEO has summoned officials from DDA on June 4 to ask about their plans for reviving and maintaining water bodies in Dwarka. The meeting has been called in response to a story published by TOI on May 22 which highlighted how the land-owning agency was undoing work put in by residents to revive a water body in Sector 23. "I was informed that the residents didn't receive a favourable response from DDA even after they met the official concerned. Having seen what is being done to this water body by the DDA, I have asked them to prepare an integrated plan on water management for Dwarka. If officials fail to act on this, a complaint against them can be made in the court for violation of its orders," said S D Singh, CEO of the society and nodal officer for work on revival of water bodies in Delhi. He added that DDA would have to submit a detailed plan with a time frame for revival of each water body in Dwarka. "The fact that t

AHMDABAD: For years more than 400 slum clusters of Ahmedabad have been plagued by problems of water contamination and diseases every summer. Periodic cases of jaundice and cholera have been often traced to mixing of sewage with drinking water. But now the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) health department is toying with the idea of making nanoparticle composite-based water filters being made available to the residents in these slum clusters. "The AMC can't have a direct association with the companies which manufacture these products. But these companies which make these filters can be asked to provide them at concessional rates. The filters are affordable," claimed a senior AMC official. The AMC's health department claims that occasional outbreaks of jaundice and cholera are worrisome and the filters are a sure short way of reducing the numbers. In the first phase of the campaign, women in each of these slum clusters can be introduced to the product. "We m