Mumbai: The BMC has completed work to intercept 20 sewage flows from outfalls entering Powai Lake and divert them to sewage treatment plants. Sewage discharge into the lake will be completel stopped from Thursday, the civic body said.According to the BMC, a total of 3,056 metres of new sewer lines have been laid as part of the project. Of the 20 identified sewage outfalls, 18 are located along Adi Shankaracharya Marg, while two are at Perugate on the northern side of Powai Lake. BMC Additional Commissioner Abhijit Bangar inspected the sewage interception project site on Sept 30. The civic body said its Sewerage Projects department has completed the interception and diversion of 18 sewage flows along Adi Shankaracharya Marg. During the non-monsoon period, the sewage is being diverted through the existing sewer line on Adi Shankaracharya Marg to the Bhandup Sewage Treatment Plant. The two sewage flows at Perugate have also been intercepted and diverted to the Filterpada Sewage Treatment Plant.The Powai Lake was created in 1891, and its water is used for non-potable purposes. The BMC said that increasing urbanisation around the lake and the entry of sewage into it every day had contributed to water pollution.As part of the interception project, officials installed physical interceptor gates and chambers at the outfalls to divert sewage into the new sewer lines. The project aims to reduce sewage inflow into the lake and cut pollution, according to the civic body. Meanwhile, the BMC is constructing an 8-million-litre-per-day (MLD) modern, automated sewage treatment plant at the site of a disused sewage pumping station at Powai. While the tender specifies December 2028 as the completion date for the project, the civic body is making efforts to complete it by May 2027.Once operational, the plant is planned to treat 8 million litres of sewage, with the treated water to be released back into Powai Lake. As part of its efforts to remove water hyacinth from Powai Lake, the civic body is currently using two harvester machines. The BMC estimates that the lake contains approximately 24,000 metric tonnes of water hyacinth and said it has removed 20,340 metric tonnes so far. According to Bangar, stopping sewage inflow is expected to reduce the spread of water hyacinth.Graphics**Quantum of sewage that enters the Powai lake every day– 18 million litres** Powai Lake has water-spread over 223 hectares** Catchment area covers about 600 hectares.**Perimeter of the lake :- Approx 6.6 kilometres with a water-holding capacity of about 5,455 million litres.
