PCB inspections reveal gaps in wastewater treatment in residential and commercial units

Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has found that over 140 commercial units and apartment complexes within the Kochi Corporation limits were discharging the wastewater to either soak pits or unauthorised tanks.

The violations were detected as part of the first phase of the on-site inspections carried out by the board after the Kochi Corporation submitted a list of over 470 units within its limits that lacked adequate wastewater management facilities. The board officials found that majority of the erring units were dependent on soak pits to discharge the untreated wastewater.

Most of these units lacked the required capacity to hold the wastewater. Some of the complexes were directing the wastewater to unauthorised tanks in violation of the norms prescribed by the board. The majority of the waste generators informed the officials that they lacked the space to set up sewage treatment plants. Some claimed that they would not come under the board’s purview as the units were set up before the norms to set up STPs were made mandatory.

The Ernakulam regional office of the board will continue the inspections. Notices will be sent to the erring units seeking compliance with the norms. The board had earlier sought information from the Corporation authorities following criticism that it had recommended action only against a section of apartment complexes located near a few canals in the city for not having STPs.

The Corporation submitted a reply stating that 476 apartment complexes and commercial units within its coverage area lacked STPs. The authorities had collated the data after assessing the possibility of linking these units to the sewer network proposed by the government in the city. The board informed the civic body authorities that the list of units without proper wastewater treatment facilities was incomplete, as there were likely to be more such erring units within its coverage area.