The discharge norms that are under revision have put on hold the tendering procedure of five STPs at Worli, Bandra, Bhandup, Ghatkopar and Versova, therefore causing a subsequent delay to the construction of these plants, said civic officials. “We were ready with various tender documents since the past three months for these STPs, but owing to a lack of technical specifications such as discharge standards, the tenders could not be processed,” said one of the officials requesting anonymity.

Further, if civic sources are to be believed, the norms have to be approved by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change(MoEFCC). Thus, the MSDP II has become another project that is stuck owing to delay in getting clearances from MoEFCC, just like the coastal road.

Meanwhile, just a few months before the civic polls, one of the Shiv Sena’s 2012 election promises is ready to go on the floor. The bhoomipujan of Colaba STP – one of the seven STPs planned – before starting the construction work that will treat 37 million liters of waste water daily is likely to take place by end of this month.

One of the senior civic officials, said, “When we finalised the Colaba tenders, it being a smaller project had discharge norms in place and thus we could go ahead with the project. In a meeting on September 30, the environment ministry has decided to come up with uniform discharge standards for coastal states. But with this revision underway, the MSDP II project has been put off until next year.”

This is not all, of the seven plants that are planned under MSDP II, the civic body also awaits the MoEFCC’s final clearance for the construction of Malad STP. The project is set to treat 3,000 MLD of waste water daily and 50% of which the civic body aims at using for non-potable purposes.