Rules and Regulations for Basement STPs-Badly Needed

Reuse of sewage / grey water from multi storied apartments is mandated everywhere. I almost all cases, these STPs are built in the basement and below road level. In some cases, they are built below the peripheral road of the apartment complex itself. In some other cases, these STPs are built in the garden space and turfed on top as play area. In all these cases, the headroom between the top of aeration tank sidewall and the bottom of the roof slab above the tank is hardly some 60 cm. All these are violating all safety codes, electricity acts, confined spaces rules etc. Surprisingly, still these STPs are going on. Added to this, Tamilnadu PCB has listed STPs under red category which means the excess sludge from these become hazardous sludge. It is all a case of strong real estate lobby not keen on this issue. As the GOI Honourable Minister for Urban affairs said recently in the public address at Chennai, "In the morning, you give your applications, in the evening, you go and do the handshake and everything is done". It is high time all stakeholders start towards a solid sound fail-proof designs and follow the same with improvements as and when appropriate. The question is the familiar "Who is to bell the cat". Any takers?

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