Workshop on ‘Sewerage and Drainage issues of Srinagar’ held

Srinagar: In order to discuss suggestive measures and steps to be taken to overcome the rising drainage and sewerage problems in Srinagar City, a workshop titled ‘Sewerage and Drainage issues of Srinagar’ was held in the Auditorium of Institute of Engineers here at Church Lane.
The workshop was organized by the Institution of Engineers (INDIA) J&K Centre in collaboration with Divisional Administration, Kashmir.
Former Advisor to Governor, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole, Commissioner SMC, Athar Amir Khan, Director Disaster Management, Aamir Ali attended the workshop.
Addressing the workshop, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai who was the Chief Guest on the occasion said that the issues need to be dealt at house hold level as the population of Srinagar city is increasing at an alarming rate due to which there is a huge increase in the waste production.
He stressed that not only Srinagar city but also other major towns in J&K should be developed on modern lines to ensure effective management of waste products. He underscored the need for giving focused attention towards proper and viable measures for better sewerage and drainage system in Srinagar.
The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole who also spoke on the occasion, said that various projects have been undertaken by the administration for improving sewerage and drainage system but more needs to be done.
He said we need to prioritize the issues for proper solutions and public/ private partnership is very much important for better results. He assured the gathering attending the workshop that the suggestions put forth by them would be looked on priority for better drainage and sewerage system in the Srinagar city.
Commissioner SMC, Athar Aamir congratulated the Institute of Engineers for organising such a workshop and said that storm water and wastes are a resource and need to be harvested in a better way by segregating the wastes at home and changing them to manures by various methods.
He stressed on the collective approach of all the departments for the implementation of the projects and assured SMC would be always open for all the recommendations and suggestions to improve sewage and drainage system in the City. He said capacity building and awareness is important in this regard.
Director Disaster Management/ Chairman Institute of Engineers, Aamir Ali in his welcome address gave a detailed overview about the sewage and drainage system of the Srinagar City. He said we are all well aware that Srinagar City is located on relatively flat terrain and the therefore the drainage system of the city is either Lift system or Gravity system and at a few places it is a combination of Lift-cum-gravity system, but in all cases the storm water is discharged into the water bodies.
He said that as per the storm water drainage master plan, Srinagar City is divided into three drainage zones and there are about 50 existing drainage schemes having more than 100km of primary and secondary storm water drains.
He informed that around 89 dewatering pumping stations exist in Srinagar City, having 69 permanent dewatering stations and a sizable number of mobile dewatering pumps, which are manned by the Drainage Division of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation. Majority of these pumping stations have been retrofitted post floods and raised above the HFL, and even provided with DG sets, with funding from either ADB or World Bank.
He further informed that despite this, the Divisional and District Administration has to deploy Fire Tenders for assisting in dewatering low lying and water logged areas, after every heavy downpour. It is estimated that solid waste generation in Srinagar city is around 500 to 600 million Tonnes per day, out of which only around 50 to 60 percent is collected by SMC and the balance trash finds its way through the storm drains into the water bodies. Then we have the issue of sewerage, which is generally confused with drainage. While drains are designed to carry the waste water or rain water, the sewerage system is meant to carry the sewage from home to a treatment plant.
Earlier, the dignitaries planted sapling of Chinar and other plants in the premises of the Institute of Engineers to mark the plantation drive for green and clean Srinagar.
Among others, Chief Engineer R&B, Former Commissioner, SMC Dr. G.N Qasba, senior officers of various Engineering wings, besides staff and students of National Institute of Technology, Srinagar and SSM College also participated in the workshop.