Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate 19 projects related to the water and sewerage sector on Tuesday from the Keshopur sewage treatment plant (STP). These projects mostly involve the upgradation of existing STPs, laying new sewer lines under the ‘Sewa Pakhwara’ events, are constructed at a cost of Rs 1816.69 crore.
The inauguration of mega Okhla STP which was earlier in the list of events, touted to be Asia’s largest such facility, has been postponed. According to a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) official, the main inauguration event will take place at Keshopur where the board is augmenting two of its existing STPs at the cost of Rs 504.12 crore. These plants will serve to the full sewage load of West Delhi catering to approximately 25 lakh households, he said.
Water minister Parvesh Verma has also announced that in the recent board meeting, several projects for setting up decentralised sewage treatment plants (DSTPs) were approved.
“The DSTP projects will be set up on drains and other areas where traditional plants cannot be set up. We plan to connect every household to the sewerage infrastructure network. These DSTPs will benefit approximately 11 lakh people,” Verma said.
According to DJB, eight sewage treatment plant (STP) projects are slated for inauguration. These include the Upgradation and Capacity Augmentation of Keshopur Phase-I & III (40 MGD to 60 MGD) at a cost of Rs 504.12 crore, Kondli Phase-IV (45 MGD) Upgradation at Rs 288.38 crore, and Rohini (15 MGD to 25 MGD) Upgradation and Capacity Augmentation for Rs 147.06 crore. Further STP upgradations are planned for Coronation Pillar Phase-I & II (20 MGD) costing Rs 138.38 crore, Coronation Pillar Phase-III (10 MGD) at Rs 91.79 crore, Narela (10 MGD to 15 MGD) Capacity Augmentation and Upgradation at Rs 104.15 crore, Yamuna Vihar Phase-II (10 MGD to 15 MGD) Capacity Augmentation and Upgradation for Rs 78.90 crore, and Najafgarh (5 MGD) Upgradation at Rs 63.71 crore.
In the drinking water sector, three projects are proposed for inauguration, including the construction of the Palla Underground Reservoir (UGR)/Booster Pumping Station (37.10 ML) for Rs 45.95 crore, the Siraspur UGR/Booster Pumping Station (12.40 ML) for Rs 32.65 crore, and the Bijwasan UGR/Booster Pumping Station (9.1 ML) for Rs 20.50 crore.
Additionally, eight sewer line and house sewer connection projects are listed for a foundation stone ceremony, costing Rs 69.97 crore for laying the sewer line in Karawal Nagar, Rs 51.43 crore in Hasanpur, Rs 41.32 crore in Tajpur Khurd, and Rs 29.63 crore for the wastewater pipeline in Yamuna Vihar. Providing house sewer connections will cost Rs 52.93 crore in Ranhoula, Rs 21.86 crore in Gokulpur, Rs 21.17 crore in Vikas Puri, and Rs 12.79 crore in Kamruddin Nagar.
Earlier this year, the Delhi government announced the setting up of 40 DSTPs planned by the DJB.
In areas where large-scale STPs cannot be constructed due to space limitations, the board plans to install these smaller plants to ensure localised waste management, the government had said.
Currently, the DJB has a sewage treatment capacity of around 600-700 million gallons per day (MGD) across all existing STPs. The government plans to increase this capacity to 1,250 MGD by June 2027.