Congress workers staging a protest at the office of the Principal of the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, on Friday demanding action against the Kozhikode Corporation for its decision to treat septic tank waste at the FSTP on the medical college campus. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
The Kozhikode Corporation has denied most of the charges levelled against it by local residents and staff of Government Medical College, Kozhikode, in connection with the launch of the faecal sludge treatment slant (FSTP) on the medical college premises and the Corporation’s use of it to treat septic tank waste from different parts of the city.
The protestors are mainly concerned about the use of the plant for treatment of waste from outside the medical college premises, the amount of waste being transported in vehicles into the compound as well as the alleged incomplete network of pipelines connecting various buildings on the campus to the newly constructed sewage treatment plants (STPs). They also complained against the use of the main gate of the campus for transportation of waste.
Deputy Mayor C.P. Musafar Ahamed told reporters here on Friday that the 0.1-MLD (100-KLD) FSTP was separate from the two other STPs recently launched on the campus. “Based on the Corporation’s agreement with the medical college authorities before the construction, the Corporation had the right to bring a definite amount of waste from outside the campus for treatment at the facility,” he said.
The protestors fear that the Corporation will transport around 100 truckloads of faecal waste to the plant every day. However, Mr. Ahamed said the FSTP could handle only a maximum of 20 truckloads a day. Considering the sentiments of the protestors, the Corporation has asked the medical college authorities to set up another road through which the waste can be transported.
There are three STPs and one FSTP on the medical college campus. The first STP of 2-MLD capacity was constructed 10 years ago by the Kerala Water Authority to resolve pollution issues on the campus as well as the surrounding areas following years of protest by the local people. The new 2.1-MLD plant of which 0.1-MLD is an FSTP has been constructed near the old one while the new 1-MLD STP was constructed near the nursing college recently by the Kozhikode Corporation.
“Due to inadequacy of funds during the planning phase, we had decided that there will be only one connection from each of the buildings to the STPs. Thus, 12 buildings have been connected to the 2.1-MLD plant while eight other buildings have been connected to the 1-MLD plant. Pipelines have been laid for connecting the Chest Hospital and the Tertiary Cancer Care Centre outside the campus to the STPs. This will be operational as soon as the medical college authorities make the three-phase power connection available,” said the Deputy Mayor.
He pointed out that the Corporation could not immediately respond to the more recent demand made by the medical college authorities to provide more than one connection from each building to the STPs as it needed to be part of another project for which funds had to be sourced.
The protestors have also complained about the seepage of water from the STPs into open drains, and the foul smell. The Deputy Mayor attributed it to the open plant and drains used for transportation of waste from various buildings to the old 2-MLD STP and the disposal of the treated water in the same manner. “The new STPs use very advanced technology and are completely closed. There are no open drains as well,” he said. He pointed out that the Kerala State Pollution Control Board and the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management had inspected the new STPs and had found them satisfactory.
The Corporation recently launched the project to transport faecal sludge collected from different parts of the city in specially designed vehicles to the FSTP on the campus. The project was launched based on the directions of the District Collector, who is also the Chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority in an attempt to save the water resources in the city from contamination due to unscientific disposal of septic tank waste.
