A 38-year-old engineer in Chennai has come up with a plan to collect and recycle waste water, and is optimistic about bringing together residents to adopt privatisation of sewage disposal.

It’s a stinking problem faced by most city suburbs, which have no sewage disposal mechanism. But it’s a problem that can be easily resolved, says R Venkatesa Perumal, who has come up with a plan to collect and recycle waste water.

"Many residences in my area have not even built septic tanks. They just divert raw sewage to stormwater drains that are supposed to carry rainwater runoff," says the 38-year-old engineer, who lives in Ramavaram. Most residents live with the stench and mosquito menace caused by overflowing, open drains. "Last monsoon, my neighbour’s child fell into a pit full of sewage," says Perumal.

The situation is the same in most suburbs. "We can avoid this mess if we get an entrepreneur to dispose of the sewage. But for that the panchayats should disconnect all household connections to stormwater drains," he says.

Once panchayats take the lead, they can appoint a contractor to construct a network of pipes that will collect sewage from every household, which will pay a small amount to dispose of the waste. "The sewage network can be connected to a treatment plant so that the contractor can sell the treated water back to the local body or even outside to get more revenue," he says.

Read more on: The Times Of India