The Indore Municipal Corporation has fined Va Tech Wabag Rs 5 lakh for failing to complete scheduled maintenance at the 245 million litres per day Kabitkhedi sewage treatment plant despite earlier notices, while ordering tougher action against industries releasing untreated effluent into the Narwal drain.
The penalty was imposed after IMC commissioner Kshitij Singhal inspected the Kabitkhedi STP, the 4 MLD common effluent treatment plant on Sanwer Road and the Narwal drain. During the inspection, Singhal reviewed the operation and maintenance work at the Kabitkhedi facility and expressed displeasure over the delay.
Va Tech Wabag, a Chennai-based agency responsible for operating the plant, had not completed the required maintenance within the stipulated period even after receiving notices, according to the report. Singhal directed officials to impose the Rs 5 lakh penalty on the agency.
The commissioner also instructed the operator to maintain the equipment installed at the plant regularly and according to schedule. He said there should be no negligence in operating and maintaining the facility so that it continues to run smoothly. Officials and the maintenance agency were directed to complete pending work within prescribed timelines and to the required quality standards.
The inspection also focused on industrial pollution. Singhal directed officials to take necessary action over harmful waste and polluted water allegedly discharged by industrial units. He asked that a notice be issued to the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board on the matter.
Singhal further directed officials to take action, including sealing industrial units found releasing untreated effluent into the Narwal drain. The directions place both sewage-treatment operations and industrial discharge under closer municipal scrutiny, although the report does not specify the number of units involved, the quantity of untreated effluent discharged or the precise maintenance work left incomplete.
The IMC’s immediate next steps are to recover the penalty, complete the delayed maintenance at the Kabitkhedi plant and proceed against units found discharging untreated effluent into the Narwal drain. Officials and the agency have been instructed to follow the prescribed timelines and quality standards.
