Mumbai: NGT Told Powai Lake Will Continue Getting 18 MLD Sewage Till 2027 Due To STP Delay

Mumbai: A rejoinder filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Pune, alleged that Powai Lake will receive 18 million litres per day (MLD) of untreated sewage for at least two more years due to municipal delays.

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The submission by environmental activist Dr Snehal Donde, filed 

under Original Application No. 150 of 2025, responds to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) affidavit. According to the civic body's timeline, a proposed 8 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) at Powai Udanchan Kendra will not be commissioned until 11 December 2027.

Dr Donde argues that this delay will accelerate biodiversity loss and water hyacinth growth. While a Joint Committee Report (JCR) previously recommended interim in-situ drain treatment to bridge the gap, the BMC has failed to implement any such measures.

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The rejoinder highlights that low-cost, rapidly deployable in-situ systems—like phytoremediation—can raise dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and cut faecal coliform by over 50 per cent. Recent Maharashtra Pollution Control Board laboratory data shows Powai Lake’s DO levels fluctuating between 3.5 and 3.8 mg/l, well below the 5 mg/l baseline required for healthy aquatic life.

Watchdog Foundation, a citizens' group which sourced the affidavit, said that a March 2025 BMC project report indicates that approximately 4,500 lakh cubic metres of silt have accumulated in the lake, shrinking its water-holding capacity by 32.3 per cent.

"The continued discharge of untreated sewage poses serious ecological and public health risks," said Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, trustee of the Watchdog Foundation. "Simultaneously, siltation severely undermines the lake's function as a flood moderation basin and urban reservoir. With erratic rainfall patterns threatening Mumbai’s water security, allowing a major freshwater resource to remain polluted and silted violates sustainable governance."

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The foundation has urged the BMC to initiate time-bound emergency measures, including temporary sewage diversion and immediate in-situ bio-remediation, warning that further administrative delays will exponentially increase ultimate ecological restoration costs.

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