Sewage management challenges in mega cities in India: a case study of Mumbai

This paper provides an overview of sewage management of Mumbai as a case study of a mega city in India. Mumbai generates 3,000 MLD sewage out of which 2,100 MLD gets treated. The trend of sewage generation, its treatment, the challenges faced by municipal authorities and initiatives taken along with policies and regulations has been discussed. The discharge of untreated sewage in open drains, unplanned development of the city and encroachment of squatter settlements were identified as some of the major challenges faced by Municipal Corporation. The initiatives like creating a better sewerage network through funded projects, up grading the existing sewage treatment plants (STPs) have been undertaken. The need of using advanced softwares like ArcGIS as a decision making tool for city planning has been highlighted. The role of the decentralized wastewater treatment technologies and reuse of treated sewage for non-potable purposes to overcome the challenges of sewage management has been explored.