The same party running the Centre and the state government now, hope is running high that the impediments standing in the way of the implementation of the Namami Gange, launched with much fanfare on 7 July 2016, would be removed. The Centre having given green signal to the STP projects worth Rs 414 crores, things kept hanging fire due to lack of coordination between the Centre and the previous state government. The state of things can be gauged from the fact that the first phase of installation of sewage treatment plants has not made much headway despite October last year being fixed for its completion. With the Centre and the state government passing the buck to each other for the delay, things looked hopeless.
However, following the regime change, it is being hoped that the commissioning process of sewage treatment plants (STPs) would begin soon. Under the Namami Gange scheme, two new STPs having total capacity of 84 MlDs would be installed in Haridwar while renovation work of other two STPs would also be completed. Besides, a pumping station will be made in the town area to tap the waste water drains which are draining their waste water directly into the Ganga. As per the Ganga Anurakshan Ikai (Engineering wing of Jal Nigam), tender process for the project has been underway.
Speaking to The Pioneer, superintendent engineer of Jal Sansthan D K Jain said, “Around 95 MlDs of sewage and waste water is produced on daily basis from the city. It will further increase with the rise in the floating population.”
Till now, there are only two sewage treatment plants having total capacity of 45 MlDs. One STP was installed in 2009 while the other was installed in 2014. Two such plants being insufficient, a large volume of untreated sewage is being drained directly into the Ganga. To check the trend, Jal Nigam had proposed two new STP projects in Haridwar having capacity of 84 MlDs to the Centre in October 2015. However, these projects could not have got clearance due to some problems. Now, the decks are cleared with the Centre having given clearance and released the requisite funds as well. “Two new STPs at Jagjeetpur and Sarai villages having total capacity of 84 MlDs will be commissioned and at the same time, renovation work would be carried out for pre-installed STPs. Besides, several drains of waste water would be tapped in the city area. Total cost of the project being pegged at around Rs 414 crores, things are scheduled to be completed in two years. We have already started inviting tenders for the same,” said Rajiv Kumar Jain, project manager of Jal Nigam.