Jal Board’s Interceptor Sewer project gets Cabinet nod

The project,which proposes to considerably reduce pollution levels in the river by intercepting the city’s sewage and allowing only treated waste to flow into the river,will be implemented by Engineers India Limited over the next two years.

“The project has received all clearances — administrative approval from the DJB,environment clearance from the State-Level Appraisal Committee,State-Level Steering Committee,Estimate Finance Committee,the Centre and the Central Cabinet of Infrastructure,” Dikshit said after the Cabinet meet.

Field investigations,detailed feasibility report,detailed project report and land allotment for the project by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the Delhi Development Authority have been completed. Of Rs 1,357.71 crore,35 per cent of the capital expenditure (Rs 475.20 crore) will be released by the Ministry of Urban Development under JNNURM. The remaining 65 per cent will be contributed by the Delhi government or the DJB. The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) has also in principle sanctioned a loan of Rs 800 crore for the project.

According to the DJB,the project is an integrated approach towards zero-sewage flow in the drains and ultimately the river.

Laying of interceptor sewers includes tapping minor drains carrying sewage into three of the major drains — Najafgarh,Supplementary and Shahdara— and transferring the same to the nearest sewage treatment plant to ensure only treated sewage is discharged.

The project also has a target horizon period of 2036,when the interceptor sewer will function as additional trunk sewers to take on the burden of the existing sewer network,which 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,” a DJB official said.