According to ministry officials, the project completion target is 2022. Along with creation of STP's, the project also involves construction of 24 community toilet blocks in slums and fringe areas and GIS mapping of sewerage facilities.
The Centre on Wednesday signed a loan agreement of Rs1,000 crore with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for cleaning Pune's highly polluted Mula and Mutha rivers. The agreement will be monitored under the National River Conservation Plan.
As part of the agreement, the JICA will fund a soft loan of Rs990 crore at an interest rate of 0.30% per annum and the project cost will be shared between Centre and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in the ratio of 85:15, respectively. The Centre has to repay the loan in a period of 40 years which includes a 10-year grace period. JICA is an autonomous body of the Japanese government and it aids developing countries with financial assistance.
It has already committed to fund the ambitious projects such as Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor, phase-III of the Mumbai Metro and the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link sea-bridge project. With the help of JICA's funding PMC, the project's implementing agency, will construct 11 new sewage treatment plants (STPs), lay 113.6kms of sewer lines and revamp four existing intermediate pumping stations. This will augment the STP capacity by 396 million litres/day (MLD) over the existing capacity of 477 MLD.
According to ministry officials, the project completion target is 2022. Along with creation of STP's, the project also involves construction of 24 community toilet blocks in slums and fringe areas and GIS mapping of sewerage facilities.
The rivers both originate in the Western Ghats and join to form the Mula-Mutha river that eventually meets the east-flowing Bhima River. Both Mula and Mutha have been dammed and are sources of drinking water for Pune. The rivers are two of the 302 most polluted river stretches of the country identified by Central Pollution Control Board.
Discharge of untreated domestic and industrial waste water, garbage dumping and open defecation on the banks have been the main causes of pollution in the rivers. In fact, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board's latest water quality data shows that high concentration of fecal coliform bacteria in the both rivers.
With the help of JICA's funding, the union environment ministry aims to reduce this pollution load and improve water quality in both rivers.
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