Mumbai dumps 2,100 million litres of raw sewage in sea
Data revealed that Mumbai dumps 2,100 million litres of untreated sewage directly into the sea off its coast everyday. This makes Mumbai's coastline one of the most heavily polluted in the world. The sewage has reduced dissolved oxygen levels in water bodies and poses a threat to marine life too. The BMC is planning to overhaul its 7 sewage treatment plants in the city.
Malad creek is dead: BMC
The BMC said that the dissolved oxygen levels at the Malad creek has reached gone to zero due to high volumes of untreated sewage being directly discharged into it. This is dangerous for the existence of Mangroves in the area.
Mumbai's sewage problem
The BMC has 7 sewage treatment plants in Mumbai located between Colaba and Bhandup that work round the clock to treat Mumbai's sewage. Due to overload, 2100 million litres of waste is discharged everyday after only preliminary treatment to remove debris. In addition, 25% of the city's waste, coming from slums, is not connected to sewer lines, and is discharged directly into water bodies.
Mumbai among most polluted global coastlines
A report compiled by the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Germany declared Mumbai to be one of the worst polluted coastlines in the world. The report also said the city had some of the world's most polluted beaches with extremely high amount of plastic waste. There were an average of 68.83 micro-plastics/sqm on the city's beaches.
BMC to overhaul plants
The 7 plants in Mumbai were set-up between 1979 and 2003 and were tuned to treat waste as per population figures and pollution standards at the time. The BMC will now spend Rs. 10,000 crore to overhaul all 7 plants and bring them up to Central Pollution Board standards. The treated water from overhauled plants will be used for gardening and construction.
