NDMC to set up five STPs to meet horticulture water needs

Four plants will have 500 KLD capacity each, while a smaller unit at Bapu Dham will treat 250 KLD, officials said.

The New Delhi Municipal Council has initiated the process to set up five new sewage treatment plants on a public-private partnership basis to meet its water requirements for horticulture, senior civic officials said on Tuesday.

New plants will come up at Nehru Park, INA Metro, Bharti Nagar and key central Delhi locations. (HT Archive)

The five STPs will come up at Nehru Park, near the intersection of Ashoka Road and Rajendra Prasad Road, Bharti Nagar, the INA Metro station and the Bapu Dham housing complex. Officials said four of the plants will supply around 500 kilolitres per day of treated water each for gardens, while the Bapu Dham unit will be smaller with a capacity of 250 KLD.

“Together these five units will supply around 2250 kilolitres of water daily. Several of our borewells have been closed down after the NGT orders on groundwater extraction. Water supply becomes challenging, especially during the peak summer period, and these new STPs will help us ensure better upkeep,” an official said, asking not to be named.

The NDMC area currently maintains about 1,450 acres of green spaces. These include six major parks, such as Central Park, Lodhi Garden, Talkatora Garden, Nehru Park and Sanjay Jheel, along with 122 colony parks, six nurseries, 981 CPWD-maintained parks, 52 school greens, 51 roundabouts, 14 market gardens and nearly 15,000 avenue trees.

“NDMC accounts for just 3% of Delhi’s total land area; 63.69% of its area is categorised as green cover,” the official added.

According to the NDMC project report, the new STPs will reduce dependence on unfiltered water supplied by CPWD for horticulture. “The overall goal is to set up additional infrastructure to ensure a minimum water requirement of 0.5 million litres of water daily through treating sewage water… NDMC is desirous to improve the availability of raw water for horticulture and dependency on unfiltered water,” the report states.

Another official said Nehru Park currently has one STP of 500 KLD that caters to only half the park. “With the development of a second 500 KLD plant, we will be able to cover the entire area, and Nehru Park will become self-sufficient in terms of its water requirements,” the official said.

The water demand of the Lutyens Delhi area is estimated at 148 MLD, while raw water availability is about 125 MLD. Unlike other parts of the city served by the Delhi Jal Board, NDMC treats, stores and distributes water on its own but depends on DJB for raw water supply.