Bhubaneswar, May 11: The civic body will identify a temporary disposal site before the construction and operation of a sewerage treatment plant in the city to avoid indiscriminate dumping of faecal sludge and septage.

The move aims to check various diseases, including jaundice, as well as to save the environment. "The state has come up with a guideline for safe management of faecal sludge. It is necessary to ensure the same in spirit," said a housing and urban development department official.

He said the department had also issued a standard operating procedure for the cesspool emptier on how to dispose of the sludge in the temporary site. "We have asked the civic body to identify the site and also adhere to the procedure prescribed for the cesspool emptier," said the official.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has come up with a sanitation plan, which puts special focus on safe management of septage and faecal sludge. "Faecal contamination comes as a major reason of disease such as jaundice in recent past. It is necessary to manage the sludge in a proper manner and we are taking all-round efforts," said a corporation official.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they had deputed the officials to identify a suitable site to dump the sludge. "It could be either near the temporary transit station near the Sainak School or our dumping ground at Bhuasuni. We will erect the trench on priority basis and begin using it by the end of this month. Moreover, we have also asked our partner to expedite the work on construction of the treatment plant," said Jena.

The civic body has identified a site at Kalinga Nagar to build the plant. It will treat about 48 million litres of sludge every day. Sources said it would be operational by the end of this year.