Cabinet nod for project to keep sewage away from Yamuna

Sources told Newsline that the process of land acquisition and other approvals from the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the Delhi Development Authority have been done. The bidding process for the project would begin as soon as the DJB gets a green signal from the state government,which also funds a major portion of the project,apart from the Rs 500 crore under JNNURM,sources said.

Delhi,on an average,extracts 240 million gallons per day (MGD) from the Yamuna for its fresh water needs,and releases 950 MGD of untreated sewage. According to the DJB,the Interceptor Sewer project is an integrated approach towards zero sewage flows in the drains and ultimately the river. The laying of interceptor sewers includes tapping the minor drains carrying sewage into three of the major drains — Najafgarh,Supplementary and Shahdara — and conveying the same to the nearest treatment plant to ensure that only treated sewage is discharged.

“The levels of biological oxygen demand (BoD) in the river stand at 40 mg/l at present. The project would reduce the BoD levels by at least 25 per cent,” a senior DJB official said.

The project,which aims to lay 60 km sewers parallel to these three drains to tap about 135 minor drains,has a twin purpose. The DJB has a target horizon period of 2036,when the interceptor sewer will function as additional trunk sewers,to take flows of the existing sewer network,as they would have far exceeded their present capacities by then. “The project lays foundation sewers for the yet unsewered areas,including the 1,639 unauthorised colonies,1,080 slums and JJ clusters and 190 rural villages in outer Delhi,” an official said.

The project would also have a positive effect on the quantity and quality of groundwater,and Delhi would no longer release dirty water into its tail-end cities like Gurgaon and Agra,an official said.