STP upgrade delays hits Delhi Yamuna clean-up

A DJB official said that the delays over the past three years have been caused due to multiple reasons, ranging from a lack of bidders, retendering of projects and funds shortage to technical problems

New Delhi

Toxic foam and waste in the Yamuna in Delhi. (HT Archive)

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has made poor progress in upgrading its sewage treatment plants (STPs), which has subsequently affected the clean-up of the Yamuna river, according to an April progress report of the DJB. Deadlines for seven facilities—at Okhla Phase-5, Mehrauli, Ghitorni, Vasant Kunj, Yamuna Vihar Phase-1, Keshopur Phase-1 and Yamuna Vihar Phase- 3—were pushed to December 2026, from missed deadlines in 2023 and 2024, it said.

To be sure, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), in its monthly status reports, has flagged that almost of half of the DJB’s 37 STPs were not meeting pollution norms and needed correcting measures. However, the project to upgrade DJB STPs has seen multiple deadline revisions and delays.

A DJB official said that the delays over the past three years have been caused due to multiple reasons, ranging from a lack of bidders, retendering of projects and funds shortage to technical problems. “In some instances, the tender conditions had to be revised as no bids were received. We have streamlined the process for remaining STPs and significant change will be seen by end of this year,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The report states that the upgrade of five plants is likely to be completed by June 2025.

Initially, the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) high-level committee set a deadline of December 2023 for 11 STPs and March 2024 for the rest. But despite a year past the deadline, only the Najafgarh STP has been completely upgraded, according to the progress report.

DJB has also started trials at the Rohini Sector 25, Narela and Coronation pillar units, it said.

STPs are the primary tools in the attempt to clean the Yamuna, which has an estimated sewage generation of 3,600 million litres per day (mld) or 792 million gallons a day (mgd) in the city. Delhi estimates that 80% of its water supply (990 MGD) comes back as wastewater.

Delhi’s 37 STPs have an installed capacity to treat 667mgd water, but its capacity utilisation is only 565mgd, with around 227mgd ending up in drains, water bodies and ultimately, the Yamuna. The upgrade of the 18 plants is likely to make capacity addition of around 113.5mgd to sewage treatment.

Bhim Singh Rawat, a Yamuna activist, and member of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) said the national capital is stuck in a cyclic problem of upgrade and capacity enhancement, citing similar delays over the past 15 years.

“DJB has a very poor record in treatment of effluents. Its projects have been so slow that by the time a plant is upgraded or installed, the sewage generation of that area is already beyond the upgraded levels. The very foundation of sewage generation estimates are flawed and we need to be honest to do a course correction,” he said.