DJB clears ₹4.5K-cr for Yamuna rejuvenation project

New DelhiThe Delhi Jal Board (DJB), as part of its Yamuna rejuvenation programme, has approved projects worth nearly ₹4,500 crore, comprising approvals for setting up 15 new decentralised sewage treatment plants (DSTPs), expanding sewer networks to 3

New Delhi

The agency also approved an e-KYC project to trace 3 million illegal water connections, which is causing revenue loss, the minister said.

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB), as part of its Yamuna rejuvenation programme, has approved projects worth nearly ₹4,500 crore, comprising approvals for setting up 15 new decentralised sewage treatment plants (DSTPs), expanding sewer networks to 3.3 million people, and upgrading STPs, sludge management and in-situ treatment of drains, water minister Parvesh Verma said.

The agency also approved an e-KYC project to trace 3 million illegal water connections, which is causing revenue loss, the minister said.

“With these approvals, DJB will now have 28 decentralised STPs under implementation, including 13 DSTPs approved earlier and 15 newly awarded projects, marking one of the most significant expansions of Delhi’s sewage treatment infrastructure in recent years,” the minister said.

Verma said that all 15 newly awarded DSTPs have been given a 21-month completion timeline.

“With the completion of all 28 DSTPs, Delhi will increase its treatment capacity by 227 million gallons a day (mgd), taking the city’s total sewage treatment capacity to 1,041mgd,” the minister said, citing current sewage generation of around 1000mgd.

The approvals for increasing sewer coverage involves extending coverage by 989 kilometres across 244 colonies and 57 villages, at a cost of nearly ₹1,600 crore, Verma said.

The DJB’s approval with regards to sludge management will entail setting up of facilities at 10 STPs, located at Coronation Pillar, Keshopur, Rithala, Narela and Rohini.

Among other decisions, the board has also approved the in-situ treatment of the Delhi Gate drain at a cost of ₹65 crore, officials said.

The government has also decided to introduce performance-based monitoring for STPs, as per which, payments to plant operators will increasingly be linked to the quality of treated water, ensuring continuous compliance with environmental standards and improving operational efficiency, minister Verma said.

Illegal connections under lens

Officials said that in a bid to reduce revenue loss and strengthen its current billing systems, the DJB plans to trace 3 million illegal water connections, for which bills are not paid.

For the purpose, the DJB plans to launch an e-KYC (Know Your Customer) exercise, as part of which it will trace and geo-tag these connections to reduce non-revenue water.

“The DJB has around three million customers, while there are around six million power connections; this means around three million people are drawing water illegally. There is a need to overhaul the billing system; there are other problems also,” the minister said.

Verma said, “I cannot give the exact figure of revenue loss at this moment, but water loss is around 50%. This is what we call non-revenue water (NRW). Water is being sent from the command centre, but no revenue is being generated in return. I want to tell the people of Delhi that as we are improving our system; citizens should also regularise their connections and billing. We have identified several commercial establishments with outstanding bills of ₹20 lakh, ₹25 lakh, and even ₹50 lakh.”

DJB is hiring three companies to carry out the customer verification exercise in the first phase and complete the e-KYC in the next six months.

“We have also received several complaints of wrong billing. In the second phase, the companies will also take up the work of meter reading; after the process is done, the DJB will have complete data about all water connections across the city,” minister Verma said.