ITANAGAR, 9 Sep: Urban Local Bodies & Urban Development Minister Balo Raja inaugurated a 100 KLD septage treatment plant (STP) in Chimpu near here on Monday.
An STP is a facility designed to treat septage, which is the wastewater and sludge collected from septic tanks, cesspools, and similar systems. The primary function of the plant is to clean and process the dirty wastewater from homes, particularly those without access to conventional sewage systems. Properly treated sludge from such plants can be utilized as a soil conditioner or fertilizer to improve land quality.
The plant, which is a component of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and
Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 1.0, was initiated by the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) as part of the ongoing efforts to improve sanitation and environmental sustainability in the capital region.
The minister said that the project will benefit thousands of people, especially in improving sanitation and environmental sustainability in the capital region.
“The project is already completed, and I have personally visited the site before inaugurating it today to review the project. As of now, it is good to activate, and the trial run has also been completed. However, there is a need for more suction vehicles. If we wait for those vehicles, the project may face further delays,” Raja said.
IMC Mayor Tamme Phassang informed that the project was sanctioned under AMRUT 1.0 in 2019 with an agreement amount of Rs 14.94 crores. However, due to various reasons, like Covid-19 and other technical issues, it was delayed, he said. The IMC team took the project seriously and completed it within the stipulated timeframe, he added.
“The STP was one of the important components under the Swachh Survekshan guidelines, and due to its absence, we were out of the required module as well as lacking in the country’s cleanliness city survey,” Phassang said.
Moreover, even the National Green Tribunal had repeatedly imposed fines on us due to the absence of the STP, he said.
The mayor informed also that a separate sewerage treatment plant is also on the verge of completion at Naharlagun.
MLA Techi Kaso, IMC Commissioner Techu Aran, Corporator Lokam Anand, and IMC EE (P-I) Yumlam Take also spoke.