Ahmedabad: More than 100 lakes in Ahmedabad city are currently contaminated by sewage water, leading to significant environmental damage. Over the past decade, sewage flowed unchecked into many of the city’s lakes, yet the problem remains unresolved.To address this and mitigate environmental impact, the AMC devised a major plan to treat the sewage entering over 100 such lakes using the bioremediation method before the sewage is released into waterbodies. Approval from the municipal commissioner was sought to float the tenders for this project. However, the commissioner issued instructions to develop a strategy to identify and disconnect illegal drainage connections that were linked to the storm water lines feeding these lakes.
The problem escalated when several illegal commercial units in these areas linked their drainage connections illegally to these stormwater lines.
While the plan to treat sewage via bioremediation was intended as a solution, questions were raised about why the city was planning to treat illegal sewage rather than stopping it at the source. This led to the tender being put on hold, highlighting the severity of the sewage influx.
A similar bioremediation project had been planned for the Sabarmati. On Sep 25, 2024, the water and sewage committee formed a panel of five companies for a pilot project to treat 786.5MLD of bypassed sewage before it entered the river.
While this was expected to start in Jan 2025, reports suggest that the required water quality parameters are not yet being achieved.In May 2024, then municipal commissioner M Thennarasan also gave the responsibility for development, maintenance, and conservation of 110 AMC-owned lakes (of the 156 lakes in the city) to deputy municipal commissioners (DyMCs). Teams comprising officers from the engineering, estate, health, garden, solid waste management, and power departments were tasked with conducting regular inspections, submitting weekly reports to the DyMCs, and addressing problems like filth, sewage inflow, and encroachments at the lakes.
