AHMEDABAD: For a long time the perils of dumping untreated faecal sludge into our rivers has been ignored in our government policies. Today, this neglect has manifested to become one our gravest public health threats. And now research has found the highest concentration of highly antibiotic resistant E.coli bacteria just besides Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram on the riverfront. It is exactly here that the Chandrabhaga drainage spews out the highest amount of untreated sewage — 60 million litres every day— into the Sabarmati. A detailed investigation carried out by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has noticed six major and 10 minor outlets in the city that circumvents our city’s sewage treatment facilities.
After Chandrabhaga, the next highest untreated sewage is injected into the Sabarmati from AMC’s Vasna treatment plant, 48 MLD. At Dafnala the AMC found drainage outlets that spewed 20 MLD of untreated sewage into the river. In each of these areas like Koteshwar, Motera and Acher the AMC measured 5 MLD of untreated sewage being let out in the Sabarmati.
A lot of these outlets were storm-water drains. This only exposes how safe waste-water management lacked priority in our civic planning. Municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra said, “We have taken up a major drive and have planned series of sewerage treatment plants which will increase the treatment facility to 1,245 MLD. Moreover, the areas where the sewerage treatment plants are to be set up, the AMC has acquired more land keeping in view any expansion which may be required.”
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