Pune’s JICA-assisted Mula-Mutha river purification project is facing further delays.
Five sewage treatment plants (STPs), earlier promised by July 2025, will take at least three more months.
Officials say work is now picking up pace despite earlier setbacks from rains, funds, and equipment delays.
Pune, 4th October 2025: The significant Mula-Mutha river cleanup project in Pune, launched as part of the National River Conservation Plan with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is experiencing further delays.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had previously assured that five sewage treatment plants (STPs) located at Vadgaon, Warje, Mundhwa, Kharadi, and Hadapsar would be operational by July 2025. Collectively, these plants are intended to process more than 110 million litres of sewage each day before it is discharged into the river.
While the majority of the structural work is complete, the plants are still not ready. Officials attribute the delays to the contractor's slow pace, heavy monsoon rains, delayed funding, and late machinery delivery.
Jagdish Khanore, the project's superintendent engineer, mentioned that the completion of the five centres will require an additional three months. He observed that despite previous delays and extensions caused by disruptions, the work is now progressing rapidly and will be finished shortly.
The project aims to complete the final six sewage treatment plants, particularly those located at Bhairobanala, Naidu Hospital, and Dhanori, by the year 2026.
