Berhampur, June 9: The state government has initiated steps to construct an effluent treatment plant to treat wastewater discharged from MKCG Medical College and Hospital here. The public health engineering department (PHED) has been entrusted with the job.

“The principal of MKCG Medical College has already deposited Rs 66.38 lakh for the project. He has also committed to deposit another Rs 20 lakh for the purpose,” said PHED executive engineer Prasant Kumar Mahapatra.

Every day, 5lakh litres of water are being supplied to the indoor wards of the hospital and another five lakh litres to various hostels, staff quarters and other buildings on the campus. “The testing laboratories in the microbiology, pathology, pharmacology departments and the regional diagnostic centre are discharging highly contaminated wastewater which is being discharged directly to the drain. It is a health hazard,” said the executive engineer.

“We have tested the contaminated water in the state pollution control board laboratory and the government has decided to treat the wastewater,” said Mahapatra, who has obtained degree in water and wastewater management from London.

He said a meeting was held on May 21 under the chairmanship of the revenue divisional commissioner (southern division) Bikash Chandra Mahapatra to construct the treatment plant.

The PHED had floated a tender for detailed project report, but no response had been received yet.

A team consisting of the PHED executive engineer and professor of the social preventive medicine department of the medical college would visit effluent plants systems in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh soon to study the modalities.

“Then we will float another tender and the construction of the treatment plant will be taken up after the tender process is completed,” said the executive engineer.

The site for the treatment plant has already been identified near the PHED assistant engineer office inside the medical college complex. The compound wall has already been constructed there, said an official.

The effluent treatment plant will consist of an equalisation tank, sedimentation or the filtration tank, disinfectant system and other equipment.

“We will connect the testing laboratories of the MKCG to collect the wastewater to feed the treatment plant. But no decision has yet been taken about how to utilise the treated water,” said the executive engineer.