Bhubaneswar, Oct. 2: The municipal corporation, along with the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board, has started working to execute the city's first sewage treatment plant at Kalinga Vihar.

Once this is complete, the city administration will be able to filter wastewater collected from households and other establishments safely without the risk of discharging it into open drains.

The plant, to come up for Rs 2.9 crore, will be jointly maintained and operated by the sewerage board and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and filter 20 million litres of wastewater a day.

'Wastewater treatment is a priority in the revised city sanitation plan. We expect to complete the plant job by the end of next year,' said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

According to the project report prepared by the sewerage board, the plant will be set up using the decentralised wastewater treatment (Dewats) system, an effective method that minimises water and soil pollution. It is based on the principle of low cost and low maintenance.

'Dewats takes a variety of approaches for collection, treatment and reuse of wastewater for various establishments. The plant will require low maintenance since many of its important components will be locally available,' said a board official.

Because of the absence of such a plant in the city, sludge is now discharged into the open drains triggering fear of water-borne disease such as jaundice. Moreover, cesspool vehicles that collect the sewerage are also discharging the same into the open drains for want of such a plant.

'It is important to treat wastewater to avoid water and soil pollution. The present practice leads to many deadly consequences. Though late, this is a welcome step of the administration to set up the plant,' said environmentalist Alok Mohanty.

The city administration had earlier tried to set up the plant but could not succeed because of the unavailability of a suitable site. It had initially been planned at Basuaghai on the city outskirts, but that plan was shelved because the site came under the Archaeological Survey of India. Thereafter, it had been planned at VSS Nagar, but again, it failed to take off because of the opposition by local people.

'The present site at Kalinga Vihar is absolutely suitable for the plant since it is neither surrounded by households nor come under any eco-sensitive or tourism site. The site has already been cleared by the authorised agencies. The levelling work is going on now. Construction of the plant will being in a week,' said Jena.