DJB draws plan to overhaul sewage system in north-east Delhi

The existing sewage pipeline in the Ghonda area is about 20 years old, said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also heads the Delhi Jal Board

The Delhi Jal board will spend ₹16.65 crore to upgrade the Ghonda sewage pumping station and replace pipelines to improve the sewage network in northeast Delhi that has many open drains that discharge untreated effluents into the Yamuna river, officials said on Saturday. The improvement in sewage treatment will help keeping the river clean, they said.

Construction underway for a Delhi Jal Board pipeline on Narwana Road in New Delhi in 2020. (HT Archive)

The existing sewage pipeline in the Ghonda area is about 20 years old, said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also heads the DJB. “Over these two decades, the population of the surrounding areas has increased substantially, leading to an increasing sewage load on these pipelines,” Sisodia said. “In light of this, it has been decided that, along with replacing the existing pipeline here, the sewage pump station will also be upgraded so that there is no problem like sewage overflow in the future.”

The Delhi government is working to lay new sewage lines in different parts of the capital and upgrade the existing sewage network, Sisodia added. “The upgradation of Ghonda’s sewer pumping station is a part of this project. With the upgradation of the existing sewage pumping station of Ghonda, the system will be able to handle 20 million gallons of sewage every day, which will benefit thousands of residents of nearby areas like Bhajanpura, Yamuna Vihar and many other colonies,” he said. “With adequate capacity, the sewage overflow problem will be resolved in these colonies.”

Last year, the Delhi government has announced its goal to clean the Yamuna by 2025. The 22km stretch of the river in Delhi, from Wazirabad barrage to Okhla Barrage, is less than 2% of its total length but accounts for nearly 76% of the pollution, a monitoring panel appointed by the National Green tribunal has said.

“Under the Yamuna cleaning initiative, there is a plan to connect 100% of the houses in Delhi with sewage lines,” Sisodia said. “Untreated sewage is one of the leading causes for the contamination of the Yamuna. This is why we are working to expand the sewer network all over Delhi and getting several new sewage treatment facilities.”