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Time of India

Concerns over STP capacity at Kedarnath shrine

Dehradun: Concerns have been raised by environmentalists and petitioners over the proposed capacity of the sewage treatment plant (STP) at the Kedarnath shrine. The current proposed capacity of the system stands at 600 a recently submitted affidavit to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the district administration stated that nearly 85% of the STP work had been completed, with the remaining expected to be finished later this month. Officials also claimed that the connectivity network would be completed by the end of the year."For the current 600 KLD capacity, the permanent population was considered as 5,000 and the floating population as 20,000. However, in the first few days of the yatra this season, this number was already breached several times," said petitioner Abhisht Gupta in the NGT case. Even in the affidavit submitted by the administration, officials admitted that the number of pilgrims crossed 25,000 on at least two occasions last year, and the 20,000 mark was surpassed even more the yatra began on May 2, over 2.26 lakh pilgrims have visited the shrine, as per state govt data suggesting an average of 22,600 pilgrims per day, which is a breach of the numbers taken into consideration for the project design. Environmentalists claim that a revision is required to ensure the system works properly."In the first two days, we had over 55,000 pilgrims at the shrine and more than a lakh within four days, according to reports. It is clear that the peak capacity will not hold if the current trends continue. To incorporate future planning, we need to enhance this capacity, or else the system will fail," said Amit Gupta, a Noida-based environmentalist, also addressing solid waste management issues at Kedarnath. Pilgrim numbers have only dropped in recent days, mainly due to the ongoing border conflict with officials claim that these considerations were taken into account before finalising the project. "Population trends and margins for increasing pilgrim numbers were incorporated before finalising the DPR. All departments concerned have taken these concerns into account. It is only after due consideration that the design was finalised," said Pradeep Kumar Joshi, scientist at the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board , Rudraprayag. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Mother's Day wishes , messages , and quotes !