Chevayur: Operations at the Government Medical College's Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) are continuing under an alternative arrangement, despite the previous contractors ceasing work after their contract expired.

The plant is currently being operated by staff temporarily appointed by the Corporation as part of this alternative arrangement. However, due to unreplaced electrodes in the plant's reactor, it is not functioning at full capacity.

Sewage treatment has been operating at half capacity since June. The electrodes in the plant's reactor, which should be replaced every six months, have not been changed since 2024.

Consequently, the plant is currently treating sewage at only half its capacity. As a result, insufficiently treated wastewater is being discharged directly into the Canoli Canal. The estimated cost to replace all electrodes in both the 1 MLD and 2 MLD plants of the STP, along with activated carbon and sand for the filter tanks, exceeds ₹60 lakh.

Plans are underway to find new contractors to resume full operations of the STP. The annual maintenance contract (AMC) alone is estimated to cost nearly ₹1 crore.