Bhubaneswar, 1st City In Country To Bag ISO Certification for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management

Bhubaneswar: Bhubaneswar has emerged as the first city in the entire country to obtain the ISO Certification for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM).

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday obtained the ISO Certification after successful completion of audit. Bhubaneswar is 2nd in the world and first city in India for FSSM Services.

Jenaidah is the first city in the world to get ISO certification for FSSM. Bhubaneswar is 2nd in the world and 1st city in India in this regard.

According to BMC, it is the first ULB in the state to pass and adopt FSSM in the state. It has issued a notification in the newspaper for registration of private operators and private cesspool vehicles with an incentive that first 50 vehicles coming forward for registration will be fitted with GPS devices free of cost by BMC.

As a result, 29 cesspool vehicles operated by private operators in the city have been registered with BMC and fitted with GPS device for monitoring purpose. BMC has taken steps to form enforcement squad to check illegal disposal of sludge by the cesspool operators.

Further, the corporation has taken steps to provide affordable cesspool services to the urban poor residing in slums areas of all 67 wards in partnership with CFAR (Centre for Advocacy and Research) i.e Rs 492 + taxes per trip whereas the regular customer are being charged with Rs 900 per trip.

For safe disposal and treatment of faecal sludge, the city has an efficient 75 KLD Septage Treatment Plant which has maintained the consistency of more than 100% utilization for last one year.