BMC chief visits Bandra sewage treatment plant

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC Commissioner and Administrator Bhushan Gagarani on Saturday visited the ongoing construction of the Bandra Sewage Treatment Plant located near Bandra West in Mumbai to review its progressIn an official statement the BMC said that the plant is being built close to the Bandra Sea Link as part of BMCrsquos Mumbai Sewage Disposal ProjectWith an estimated capacity of 360 million liters of sewage treatment per day the project has completed its initial structural work and construction is now gaining momentum Bhushan Gagarani visited the site to inspect the developments firsthand it saidDuring the civic chiefs visit present at the site were Deputy Municipal Commissioner Engineering Shashank Bhore Chief Engineer of Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project Rajesh Tamhane Deputy Chief Engineer Rajendra Parab Project Manager from the contractor LampT Vinaya Hebbar and Consultant from IVL India Environmental RampD Pvt Ltd the civic body statedThe contract for the construction operation and maintenance of the Bandra Sewage Treatment Plant was awarded to Larsen amp Toubro Ltd LampT on May 31 2022 and the construction of it had began on July 5 2022 The project is expected to be completed by July 4 2027 The consulting responsibility lies with IVL India Environmental RampD Pvt LtdDuring his visit Bhushan Gagarani reviewed the model of the plant and also viewed its virtual model through Virtual Reality glasses offering a glimpse of how the completed plant will look A computer presentation also provided more detailed information about the construction progress the need for water to support the project and the newly built 250 KL capacity containerised sewage treatment plant the statement saidShashank Bhore explained that initial construction works have been completed and now the major construction activities are in full swing Work will continue through the monsoon seasons of 2025 and 2026 to ensure timely completion The projectrsquos operational and maintenance period will last for 15 years Chief Engineer Rajesh Tamhane mentioned that the physical progress of the project has reached 2137 and procurement processes for equipment are also underway About 265 trees from the project site have been successfully relocated to areas like Malad and Sanjay Gandhi National Park The workforce involved in the project has completed around 177 lakh manhours to date Approximately 100 engineers from LampT 15 consultants from IVL and 10 engineers from BMC are working daily with around 800 laborers onsite Despite largescale construction strict safety measures have been followed with only 10 minor injuries requiring first aid it saidDeputy Chief Engineer Rajendra Parab highlighted that while the new plant is being built the existing sewage plant continues its operations and maintenance The project is being developed on an 836hectare site and careful planning has ensured that the work proceeds without any significant challenges The new plant will include features like sludge treatment biogasbased electricity generation a knowledge center and a viewing gallery Once completed the project will improve seawater quality and marine life benefiting areas like Mahim Bandra BKC Kherwadi and Santacruz the BMC said in the statementProject Manager Hebbar explained that the current plant processes sewage and discharges it into the sea In contrast the new plant will treat 360 million liters of sewage daily in two stagesmdashprimary and secondary treatment with tertiary treatment applied to 180 million liters per day The plant will use Membrane Bio Reactor MBR technologyAfter the site visit Gagarani expressed satisfaction with the progress and instructed the team to accelerate the remaining work He suggested exploring the possibility of processing the sludge onsite for fertilizer production reducing transportation costs and time and improving the overall efficiency of the project He also recommended engaging with experts in fertilizer production to explore advanced technologies that could be applied within the available space