To check discharge of sewage in Ganga,NGRBA nod to projects worth Rs 315.34 cr

Principal Secretary of Urban Development department Alok Ranjan said: “The Centre will bear 70 per cent of the project cost (Rs 213.74 crore) while the remaining Rs 91.60 crore would be borne by the state.”

As part of the project,three sewage treatment plants would be constructed at Numaya Dahi,Kodra and Ponghat. These three STPs would have a capacity to treat 85 MLD. The capacity of the existing STP at Naini would be increased to 80 MLD from the current capacity of 50 MLD. Four new pumping stations would also be developed and the existing trunk sewer lines would be rehabilitated.

The non-sewage component of the project includes the construction of 143 community toilets and five dhobi ghats.

Of the total 228 MLD sewage generated in Allahabad,only 39 per cent is currently being treated,while the remaining is discharged untreated into the river Ganga.

On October 5,the NGRBA had asked the member states — UP,Bihar,Uttarakhand and Bengal — to draft strategies for checking the discharge of untreated sewage in the river Ganga.

The state had to submit a plan for three cities — Allahabad,Varanasi and Kanpur.  

The Centre has already approved a Rs 494-crore project for the setting up of a 140-MLD sewage plant in Varanasi. The proposal for Kanpur is nearing completion and would be tabled before the Centre in the next meeting.