LIMITATIONS

Notwithstanding the delay in completion of the programme, the implementation of pollution abatement facilities has been by and large satisfactory. However, certain major limitations have surfaced now which are mainly in respect of operation & maintenance of assets. These are briefly described below:

       i.            States particularly Bihar and to a large extent U.P. are unable to provide timely and adequate funds for operation and maintenance of assets created under the programme.

     ii.            In Bihar, the O&M has been grossly inadequate in respect of all the assets. The State Government has neither been able to provide funds for such purposes nor the required power on a continuous basis for operation of assets like sewage treatment plants, pumping stations, crematoria etc. Thus, the operation of nearly all the assets has practically come to a halt.

  iii.            O&M of conveying sewers and intermediate pumping stations which is equally cost intensive has been grossly neglected in U.P. due to the inability of the State Government to provide adequate funds. As a result, despite the facilities being available, sewage is still finding its way into the river at several places.

  iv.            Erratic and poor availability of power for operating the pumping stations, STPs and electric crematoria is also seen to be a bottleneck in U.P. Although, for such installations like treatment plants and pumping stations, dedicated power supply had been provided for , this has not been adhered to by UPSEB. As a result, in the event of power failures, untreated sewage still finds its way into the river and the treatment plants are adversely affected due to prolonged power cuts, mostly in Uttar Pradesh, as these are energy intensive.

    v.            O&M of other facilities like toilets and bathing ghats has been neglected in general by the local bodies. Local bodies have also not been able to discharge other civic functions in GAP towns in a manner desirable for maintaining the town and the river clean.

  vi.            O&M of assets is reported to be satisfactory in West Bengal. This is because :

a.    the implementing agencies have involved municipalities in the programme from the planning stage itself;

b. adoption of low cost technologies like oxidation ponds wherever feasible to reduce the O&M cost burden;

c.     involvement of local bodies, panchayats etc. in the implementation as well as operation & maintenance of assets to the extent possible.

       i.            The stretch of the river from Farrukhabad to Varanasi in general and at Kanpur in particular is very critical in terms of the availability of minimum flow in the river. At Kanpur, the pollution load from both the municipal as well as industrial sources is significantly large and the dilution capacity of the river is severely limited. As a result, the desired improvement in river water quality has not been achieved at Kanpur.

     ii.            The acceptance of electric crematoria has been slow in Bihar and U.P. whereas in West Bengal the utilisation of this mode has picked up well. However, due to problem of funds as well as power availability these facilities are virtually defunct in U.P. and Bihar.