VARANASI, May 10 -- Construction of a new 60 Million Liters per Day (MLD) Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Varanasi's Lohta area is scheduled to begin soon, in a significant step aimed at making the Varuna River pollution-free. Ganga Pollution Control Unit Project Manager Ashish Singh said work on the project, located near Bedouli village, is likely to commence in the last week of May. The STP, sanctioned in February this year under the 'Namami Gange' programme, is estimated to cost Rs.274.31 crore. The new plant's primary objective is to tap 13 drains that currently flow into the Varuna River. The Varuna, a major Ganga tributary that confluences with the main river at the Adikeshava Ghat, receives untreated sewage, including discharge flowing from the Lohta region via the Durga Nala....