Cuttack: For the first time in the city, the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) is implementing the Rs 810.83 crore mega-project to build a comprehensive sewerage system for collection and disposal of waste water.

The first of the three sewage treatment plants, under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica)-funded integrated sanitation project, has started trial run.

OWSSB chief engineer and JICA project in-charge Basanta Kumar Parida told The Telegraph on Tuesday that trial run of the sewage treatment plant at Satichaura was being done and sewer lines were being completed in the western parts of the city.

"We have planned to start the plant and complete the sewer lines in Markatnagar, Bidanasi and parts of Tulsipur by October 2. If it is not possible to complete the project by October 2 then it will be completed by October end," Parida said.

The project envisages a sewage system with an underground gravity sewer line of 385 km, 36 pumping stations and three sewage treatment plants. The other two sewage treatment plants are coming up in Matagajpur.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of the project in October 2012 with July 2016 as deadline for completion. Later, it was targeted to be completed by September 2018. Now, the completion of the project has been re-scheduled to July 2019.

Parida said: "As the land acquisition process for the project is completed, progress of work had gathered pace over the past one year. But work progress had slowed down due to inclement weather conditions and rain since May."

"The pace of work will pick up after the Dussehra festival is over in October," he said.

He also said since it was a big project people would face difficulties at the time of execution of the work.

Work on around 270 km of sewer lines had been completed so far. Of the 36 pumping stations, only nine have been completed so far. As part of the sewage collection and disposal system waste water will be transported through the underground sewer lines in various parts of the city to the three sewage treatment plants and treated to control water pollution before discharging it into Mahanadi and Kathajodi rivers.

Around a 100 million litres of waste water can be treated daily at these sewage treatment plants before releasing it into the rivers.