Delhi LG-led panel fixes timelines for cleaning Yamuna river

The committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in January 2022 to clean up the Yamuna River has now issued a time-bound action plan under 15 parameters to achieve its objective

The committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in January 2022 to clean up the Yamuna River has now issued a time-bound action plan under 15 parameters to achieve its objective.

The committee has also decided that it will meet every alternate week under the chief secretary while a meeting chaired by the LG will be held every fortnight. (PTI)

“We will leave no stone unturned to ensure the execution of the time-bound action plan,” said Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena, who heads the committee. On Saturday, Saxena visited Punjabi Bagh to inspect the ongoing clean-up of Najafgarh drain, where a conveyor belt system to remove floating garbage as well as a new fountain in the water body, came into operation.

In an order dated January 27, issued by chief secretary Naresh Kumar, who is the convenor of the high-level committee, monthly targets have been assigned to various agencies for the next six months under parameters such as desilting, expanding the capacity of sewage treatment plants, trapping drains, septage collection and floodplain management.

According to the order, 130km of desilting will be completed by June 30, 2023, while the existing sewage treatment plant capacity will be increased from 632 to 727 MGD (million gallons per day) and 43 drains that discharge effluent into the river will be trapped, over the same period.

The plan includes a target of 100% treatment of sewage generated in the city. Currently, there is gap of 238 MGD between the sewage generated by Delhi and the quantum it treats in STPs. “The departments have been directed to ensure three new sewage treatment plants are constructed in Okhla by June, in Sonia Vihar by September and Delhi Gate within 12 months. Another 29 decentralised STPs with total capacity of 57.57 MGD will be constructed by December,” the order states. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has been directed to undertake upgradation of existing 18 STPs to create additional capacity of 93.5 MGD by March, 2024.

“The entire desilting will be completed by September 2023.The status of the drain pre and post-desilting will be recorded on video. Independent audit of the desilting will be carried out after execution of the work,” said the official.

There are 18 major drains that discharge into the Yamuna’s Delhi stretch, of which 11 drains have been trapped and the committee has finalised the timeline for trapping the remaining major seven drains.

“74 un-trapped sub-drains -- 44 in Najafgarh drain and 30 in supplementary drain -- are to be intercepted by October while September will be the deadline for trapping large flow in Mori gate drain, Barapullah drain and Maharani bagh drain. Under the interceptor sewer project (ISP) — full trapping and treatment of 242 MGD wastewater will be completed by DJB by June 2023,” the order states.

The committee has also decided that it will meet every alternate week under the chief secretary while a meeting chaired by the LG will be held every fortnight.

Amid the power tussle between the Delhi lieutenant governor and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, the Yamuna clean-up has emerged as a new contested space.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday held a review meeting with the committee of senior officials constituted for cleaning the Najafgarh drain. The clean-up of Yamuna also remains one of the key promises of the AAP-led Delhi government. A government spokesperson said Sisodia checked the progress of the desilting works as well the plans for constructing a road along the drain between Chhawla and Basaidarpur. “In the first phase, the work on removing 10 lakh cubic metres of silt from the drain is going on a war footing, and it will be over before monsoon,” an official said.