By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: In a bid to avoid the direct discharge sewerage and solid waste into the river, the Government is likely to initiate the solid waste management (SWM) project by March next year.
A presentation on the entire project was presented by Mott Macdonald, a noted consultancy firm, during a meeting held here in the State Secretariat on Wednesday in the presence of Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh and other officials.
The waste management project will be executed under the North East Region Capital Cities Development Investment Programme (NERCCDIP) formulated by the Central Government to improve the environment and the well being of urban residents in five capital cities of the region including Shillong.
Under the waste management project, sewer pipelines will be laid in order to carry the sewage from individual houses to the sewerage treatment plant (STP) and manholes will be provided at suitable intervals so as to facilitate regular cleaning and inspection.
To implement the project effectively, the Greater Shillong Planning Areas (Zone 1) has been divided into seven sub zones. Under the sub-zone, six sewerage treatment plant (STPs) have been proposed depending on the availability of land.
The first proposed STP will be set up behind the present location of the Shillong Municipal Board Office with a capacity of 2.5 million litres daily while the second STP is proposed to be set up near the JNSC complex along the drain in Polo area with a capacity of 2.05 million litres daily.
The third one is proposed in the Polo Municipal Market complex (1.5 million litres daily) while the fourth plant is planned near the old cremation ground at Mawlai Nongmali (capacity of 1.8 million litres daily). The fifth plant would be set up on the MeECL land near the bridge along NH-40 across Wah Umkhrah while the sixth plant would be set up near the old bridge at Rhino (Cantonment land).
The total catchment area for the STPs will be 43.65 sq km and it will cater to a population of 562845 till the year 2045 in Zone 1.
Officials from the consultancy firm informed the gathering that if everything goes well, the six pilot projects could take off in March 2013 and would be completed in two years.
The first treatment plant would cover parts of Laitumkhrah, Lummawrie, Secretariat Hills and Oakland, the firm officials informed, adding that the design of the sewer network is complete and the cost of the pilot project is about Rs 65 crore.
Under the solid waste management programme, segregation of solid waste will be done at the source, while the method of door-to-door house collection will be done through waster collectors, primary collection vehicles and mobile garbage bins.
Under the programme, thirty thousand households within the Municipal areas will be provided with two garbage bins – one green and one blue – for separate storage of biodegradable and non- bio-degradable solid wastes.
The Urban Affairs Minister was of the view that those households which are apprehensive of using the bins should be isolated and they can be made part of the initiative as and when they wished.
To make people aware about the initiatives, the consultancy firm has also imparted training to people in certain localities of the city.