Water management in Tumakuru City- Part 2

Let us see what’s happening to the wastewater in Tumakuru:

Sewage Treatment Plant

Tumakuru has been treating its waste water in a Sewage Treatment Plant located at Bheemasandra since a decade. The capacity of STP is 25MLD. Waste water enters STP inlet through a pump house located near Ring road and the STP outlet is connected to Bheemasandra Lake. As the waste water enters the STP a chemical will be added to reduce the smell of the waste water. Every day thirteen kilograms of chemicals will be put into the waste water twice a day. Waste water stays in the STP for about three days and gets discharged into Bheemasandra Lake. STP is responsible for primary treatment of the waste water while secondary and tertiary treatment is not taken care currently. It was noted that Melekote Lake which is adjacent to the Bheemasandra Lake also gets affected by the treated waste water when the Bheemasandra Lake overflows. 

Map of Bheemasandra Lake and Melekote Lake

Animals grazing around Bheemasandra STP

Wetlands

It was observed that the area around the Sewage Treatment Plant had natural wetlands having Typha, Hyacinth and other wetland plants.

Are people are using the treated waste water for cultivation?

Yes, people are using treated wastewater for cultivating. People grow coconut, areca nut, corn and green leafy vegetables for Sheep and goats. Vegetables are grown on a very small scale using borewell water since vegetables can’t be grown using treated sewage water. 

Farmers pumping the treated sewage water having motors installed in the lake

Now let us hear from people, what do they feel about the treated waste water in Bheemasandra Lake?

People of Bheemasandra are in a state of helplessness, if I had to say in their words, “we have no choice, madam” is their answer. Villagers spoke of the advantages and nevertheless to list out many disadvantages of treated wastewater. None of the villagers mentioned the latter alone, ignoring the former. Yes, people have the advantage of using this treated waste water for cultivation since they have no other source of water for cultivation. Since not all people can afford to drill a borewell people are okay to pump the treated waste water from the Lake to water their Areca nut and Coconut farms. People have gotten used to Baje cultivation after shifting from wheat cultivation. To sum up the advantage of treated wastewater is to water their farms and Baje plantation and famers spending less on fertilizers.

When we look into the disadvantages of the treated wastewater to the villagers of Bheemasandra, people said, “Will you purify this waste water and then allow the good water into the lake”. Sewage water has been primarily treated and villagers are aware that it is not treated fully. Even though people are relying on treated wastewater for cultivation they complain about the Quality of water. People have seen the reduction in the quality and quantity of Coconut and Areca nut produce. For instance, tender coconut water has become tasteless, coconuts will get spoiled soon and vegetables won’t grow to a good size. Even though the quantity of water is observed to be good in borewells and open wells, people complain of getting the same water. Water from the open wells have become stinky and they cannot use the after for domestic purposes. People had conflicting views on the quality of borewell water that is few said they can grow vegetables using the borewell water but few said their borewell water is also polluted due to the Lake’s water and the usage of borewell water is again limited. 

The other major complaints of treated wastewater includes the RO plants water which couldn’t be stored more than a day, tastelessness, existence of poisonous snakes like Russell Viper (Kolatamandala and huri mandala), some people witnessing skin diseases, high mosquito breeding, increase in weeds. 

It is important to notice the people's confusion on what happens once the government starts pumping the treated wastewater to sell to industries in Vasanthanarsapura and Anthrastanahalli? Villagers being aware of this darker side choose to accept the primarily treated water in spite of their problems. It is now up to the government to choose between farmers and industries. It is worth for the government to look at the huge Baje plantation and farmers’ income before it takes up the decision. 

Let us learn about the fascinating story of Baje in Part 3 of Water Management in Tumakuru City.

-Rakshitha M L