Kerala - Kozhikode   

Nod for sewage plant at MCH

Staff Reporter

Corporation likely to earmark Rs.50 lakh

Kozhikode: The Government has agreed in principle to set up a sewage treatment plant at Medical College Hospital (MCH) in Kozhikode. A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting in Thiruvananthapuram a couple of days ago.

It was decided to have a four million litres per day (MLD) plant in the first phase and another four MLD plant in the second phase. At present, the use of water on the medical college campus was four MLD, of which 80 per cent (3.2 MLD) was released as sewage.

Official sources said that the Government also decided to invite expression of interest and also entrust the project to a consultancy to suggest the type of plant including specifications and its discharge of treated water.

"The consultancy will be finalised within a month and the work on the project will start before the end of this year," said a senior official.

Around Rs.5 crore would be needed for the project and funds were also readily available. The Hospital Development Society (HDS) had set apart Rs.1 crore for the purpose. The Kozhikode Corporation was likely to earmark Rs.50 lakh. The remaining Rs.3.5 crore would be taken from the Rs.50-crore grant given to the Institute of Maternal and Child Care (IMCH) attached to the medical college.

A sum of Rs.4 crore was set aside for sewage disposal in this project. Earlier, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac also promised the amount, sources said. Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy, Industries Minister Elamaram Karim, Forest Minister Benoy Viswom, K. Pradeepkumar and P.M.A. Salam, MLAs from Kozhikode, Health Secretary Viswas Mehta, Director of Medical Education Meenu Hariharan, MCH Principal P.V. Ramachandran, MCH Superintendent V.R. Rajendran, IMCH Superintendent Mohankumar were present.

Special officer of the new IMCH project Dinesh Aurora was entrusted with the task of gathering information about consultant agencies from the Centre.

The decisions taken in Thiruvananthapuram were a follow up of a meeting on the sewage treatment plant held in Kozhikode last week. Collector A. Jayatilak presided over the meeting.

Decision was taken to flow the treated water into the Canoly canal. Releasing the treated water into the sea would be expensive, as pipes would have to be laid from the sea to the medical college crossing major roads and railway tracks in the city.

Sources said that constructing drains and linking them to the nearest river was also not practical. Another suggestion that came up at the meeting was to entrust the project to the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project. The Public Works Department (PWD) was asked to submit a report on the land available for the purpose.

A PWD official said that 40 cents was available near the Nursing College and 60 cents near the medical college.

It was found that the land near the nursing college was more suitable. Proposal was to go for the latest technology - Fluidised Aerobic Bioreactor - which was globally recognised, sources said.

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