Ahmedabad: Two workers died on Monday during a trial run at the under-construction Sola sewage treatment plant (STP). The contractor building it turned out to be the same that was penalised Rs 5.7 crore in 2023 over irregularities caught by the municipal commissioner during a site inspection of the Vinzol STP. The penalty was never recovered by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), however, the same contractor was awarded the Sola STP work.Both the workers who died at Sola STP, including a welder, are believed to have inhaled toxic gas. The preliminary suspicion is that they entered the tank without basic safety equipment.The contractor, M/s HNB Engineers Pvt. Ltd., was penalised three years ago following a vigilance inquiry ordered by the then AMC commissioner M Thennarasan after he inspected the 100 million litres per day (MLD) Vinzol STP in Nov 2022. The plant, inaugurated in 2021 at a cost of Rs 103 crore, was designed to generate electricity from methane gas produced during sewage treatment.The inquiry found multiple lapses, including failure to deploy qualified staff, non-compliance with sewage discharge parameters and inadequate power generation. Penalties included Rs 84.4 lakh for irregularities involving liquidated damages, Rs 44.9 lakh for failure to deploy qualified personnel, Rs 1.3 crore for not meeting outlet parameters and Rs 3.2 crore for inadequate power generation, taking the total to Rs 5.7 crore.While the AMC is yet to recover the penalty, the contractor was not even blacklisted by the civic body. In 2024, the same firm secured the contract to construct the 30 MLD Sola STP.An AMC STP department official said the contractor was awarded a 10-year operation and maintenance contract alongside construction of the Vinzol plant. The firm was required to generate electricity from methane gas, but this was not happening. The inquiry also found that sewage was not being treated as prescribed.“The file has been lying in the STP department for the past three years without any decision,” the official alleged, adding that administrative and political pressure had helped the contractor secure the Sola project despite the earlier findings.Additional engineer Devang Darji said, “The 2023 vigilance inquiry into the Vinzol STP plant caught irregularities by M/s HNB Engineers Pvt. Ltd. However, since 2023, we have withheld the operation and maintenance payments of this company for the Vinzol plant. The penalty recovery process remains pending.”The deaths have also raised questions about the implementation of safety measures and accountability within the STP department.Box: SOP failed to bring changeAfter the Vinzol irregularities came to light in 2023, AMC commissioner M Thennarasan introduced a standard operating procedure (SOP) specifying the responsibilities of technical supervisors, assistant engineers and assistant city engineers at STPs.Officials were required to maintain registers documenting attendance, sewage inflow and outflow, laboratory analysis, maintenance, electricity consumption, chemical stocks, material procurement, grit and sludge disposal, and gas generation. Periodic inspections of electrical and mechanical equipment were also mandated, while environmental engineers were tasked with overseeing treatment processes.Despite the detailed workflow intended to fix accountability, the latest tragedy has renewed concerns over whether the prescribed procedures and safety requirements are being effectively enforced.
