No space; Kochi flat owners drain swimming pools to install STP as HC gives more time for compliance

In the wake of directions from the Pollution Control Board (PCB) to close down the apartments and a power disconnection notice from the state electricity board (KSEB) for the lack of a sewage treatment plant (STP), some apartment associations in Kochi are converting swimming pools and investing a substantial amount of money in installing liquid-waste treatment plants.

Following directions from the PCB, the state electricity board has issued disconnection notices to a few apartment complexes. Around 71 apartment complexes have received notices from the PCB citing the use of flats without sewage and sullage treatment facilities and a valid consent from the board. The PCB directed the apartment owners to close down the apartment and vacate the premises within 15 days of receipt of the notice.
The notice also warned the owners that if they did not vacate the flats, the PCB would give directions to the authorities concerned to disconnect the supply of electricity, water and any other services to the apartment.

Four apartment owners' associations approached the Kerala High Court after receiving KSEB's power disconnection notice, and the court ordered that if an undertaking has been submitted by the associations seeking a reasonable time for compliance, the PCB must consider granting such reasonable time. The association office bearers said the HC order only gives a reprieve, and they are taking all steps to install STPs.

The Skyline Belair Apartment Owners' Association in Panampilly Nagar, Kochi, which runs flats constructed in 1995, has converted the swimming pools to install an STP. "Many flats face a shortage of land. When the flats were handed over to us in 1995, the rules were not clear on having an STP. The pool, which has remained non-operational, was drained and has been cleared to install the STP. Heavy showers often upset the schedule as the pool gets filled again. We can't install a roof over the pool now (to prevent rainwater accumulation) as STP is installed using a crane. Only then can we have a roof," said Association secretary Vijayakumar Menon.

The office bearers of the Associations are forming a collective to liaise with the authorised STP vendors and to address the issue. The owners need to shell out ₹25-30 lakh to install the new plant. Each owner must be convinced of the financial requirement, and then funds must be allocated for annual maintenance, an office bearer said. Then the functioning of the STP will also increase power bills in the apartments, he added.

They also face other challenges in the periodic removal of sludge once the STP starts functioning. The apartments already having a space crunch won't be able to afford space for a sludge treatment facility, and this will mean that ways to dispose of the sludge will have to be found. In Thiruvananthapuram, apartments with an STP, avail of the online booking facility of the city corporation to remove the sludge, which is then transported to the centralised sewage treatment facility at Muttathara. The owners stated that in areas lacking adequate space, recreational areas must also be converted to accommodate STPs.

As per the latest progress report submitted by the PCB to the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Kochi has three STPs: one at Marine Drive (GCDA) with a capacity of 0.9 MLD, another at Elamkulam with a capacity of 5 MLD and the third at Kaloor with 0.75 MLD capacity. The STP in Thiruvananthapuram has a capacity of 107 MLD and 80 MLD is currently operational.