Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday inaugurated the city’s first of the three sewage treatment plants funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

Odisha Water Supply & Sewerage Board is implementing the Rs 810.83-crore mega-project that for the first time gives the city a comprehensive sewerage system for collection and disposal of wastewater.

Inauguration of the Rs 110-crore sewage treatment plant with 36 million litres per day (MLD) capacity near Satichaura followed completion of sewer lines at Markatnagar, Bidanasi and parts of Tulsipur.

Dedicating the plant to the people of Cuttack, Naveen said his government had always given priority to the long-term solution of the city drainage and sewage issues.

Naveen said about 60 per cent of the city’s population would benefit from the plant after their houses were connected to the sewage system.

“The other plant at Matagajpur, along with four other drainage pumping stations, shall be operational in a few months making services available in other areas of the city,” he said.

The state-of-the-art project has a 385-km long sewer line, with 36 pumping stations and three sewage treatment plants. The other two sewage treatment plants are coming up at Matagajpur.

Chief engineer of the board and Jica project in-charge Basanta Kumar Parida said as part of the sewage collection and disposal system, wastewater would be transported through the underground sewer lines from various parts of the city to the three sewage treatment plants and treated to control water pollution before discharge into Mahanadi and Kathajodi.

He said around a 100MLD of wastewater can be treated daily at these sewage treatment plants before release into the rivers.

“The plant at Satichaura has been made operational on Wednesday by connecting sewer lines at Markatnagar. The process of connecting sewer lines in Bidanasi area is on,” Parida said.

Work on around 275km of sewer lines had been completed so far. Of the 36 pumping stations, work on nine has been completed so far, he said.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik visits the sewage treatment plant near Satichaura in Cuttack on Wednesday. Badrika Nath Das