To address the issue of pollution in river Yamuna, Delhi Government has undertaken a comprehensive scheme of ‘Interceptor Sewer Project’ through which all drains, which are contributing to pollution in the river, shall be cleaned before they merge into the river. lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has instructed the Irrigation and Flood Control Department to ensure channelising of larger drains and also heavy plantation along the banks of major drains.
Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) was directed not to release untreated industrial waste into drains. Jung also asked Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to work on riverfront development and removal of encroachment from the floodplains.
The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) will set up an interceptor sewer at a length of 59-km along the three major drains (supplementary, Najafgarh and Shahdara) to intercept sewerage from around 190 subsidiary small drains and transport it to the nearest sewage treatment plant (STP) to ensure that only treated effluent is discharged into these major drains.
“Around 70 per cent of pollution load in the river shall be reduced by this effort,” said a statement issued by the lieutenant Governor on Tuesday. The already existing interceptor sewer between Aruna Nagar JJ cluster up to the outfall of Khyber Pass drain, which intercepts untreated sewage from Sweeper Colony, Magazine Road and Khyber Pass drain, will be made fully functional by June 2015.
The discharge intercepted from these drains shall be pumped to Nigam Bodh SPS and taken to the existing Okhla STP, which has a total treatment capacity of 170 MGD. Metcalfe House, Qudsia, Mori Gate, Tonga Stand, Civil Military drain shall be intercepted into the existing Ring Road trunk sewer, which has recently been rehabilitated under Yamuna Action Plan-II.
The sewage collected from these drains shall be pumped to Okhla STP through Ring Road SPS and this work shall be completed by June next year. The capacity of the STP at the mouth of the Delhi Gate drain can be augmented from existing 2.2 MDG to 17.2 MGD by constructing an additional 15 MGD STP, said Delhi Government officials.
The move comes after a team of Delhi Government officials visited Gujarat earlier this month to study Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Riverfront Project in Delhi along the Yamuna River. Delhi Jal Board further informed that the capacity of the STP at the mouth of Delhi Gate drain can be augmented from existing 2.2 MGD to 17.2 MGD by constructing an additional 15 MGD STP.
As for the Barapullah drain, which presently carries 30 MGD to 40 MGD untreated sewage, DJB is looking at short-term, medium and long-term measures to trap the entire sewage in the Barapullah drain and carry it for treatment to Okhla STP. Concurrently, to utilise all the STPs at their treated capacity, around 100-km trunk sewer has been rehabilitated and the rehabilitation of peripheral sewer at a length of 168-km is under process, which will take another three years.
The DJB is also in the process of laying of sewerage system in unsewered areas for which Sewerage Master Plan 2031 has been prepared. Till date, 541 out of the total 567 unauthorised colonies, 129 out of 135 urban villages, 44 resettlement colonies out of 44, 34 out of the 189 rural villages and 104 out of the 1,639 unauthorised or regularised colonies have been provided with sewerage facility.
The work of laying of sewerage system in 162 colonies is under progress and for another 142 tenders have been invited. The cost of all the projects is estimated to be more than Rs 25,000 crore. The development plan for Yamuna was reviewed by Najeeb Jung.
“Due to major expansion of the city, with its more than 1,600 unauthorised and regularised colonies, 189 rural villages, more than 1,000 JJ clusters, sewerage facilities could not be provided in many areas due to legal and institutional constraints. Consequently, untreated sewage is being discharged into stormwater drains and through them into the river Yamuna, thereby polluting it,” said the statement.
Presently, there are 22 drains carrying wastewater, solid waste and industrial effluents etc, that get discharged directly into the Yamuna. Jung also raised the matter with other stakeholders and asked Delhi Municipal Corporations and Public Works Development (PWD) to develop robust solid waste management so that no solid waste is dumped into smaller and bigger drains, including the river Yamuna.
Jung further stressed on regular desilting of drains and dumping of solid waste at designated sanitary landfills. In a nation that jumps on politicians for flushing away taxpayers’ money, maybe we should start insisting they figure out how to put more down the toilet — not in waste, but to fight it.