Device to test discharge into Najafgarh drain

Gurugram The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) on Friday installed a device, at the Najafgarh drain near Sector 107, to test the quality of recycled

Gurugram The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) on Friday installed a device, at the Najafgarh drain near Sector 107, to test the quality of recycled water being discharged by the Badshahpur drain into the Najafgarh drain, which finally leads to the Yamuna.

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The new system has been introduced by the GMDA to maintain and monitor treatment quality of sewage, almost half of the city’s discharge, at its sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Behrampur’s Sector 72, from where the recycled water is discharged into the Najafgarh drain through the Badshahpur drain. The issue of contaminated discharge was noted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and in September, it ordered the Haryana government to fix the problem by December 31.

The rest of the city’s sewage goes to the STPs at Dhanwapur in Sector 4, from where there is a partial discharge into the Najafgarh drain. Samples from the two drains were found to be highly contaminated by the NGT team in April.

Lalit Arora, GMDA chief engineer, said, “We are doing everything to improve sewage recycle system and in that attempt, we have hired a private company to do sample testing of sewage water at Najafgarh drain. Friday and Saturday’s sample tests show that the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) level has been fully brought under control, which is a good thing. We have improved our STPs last couple of years and also disconnected illegal sewer connections to city’s open drains by offenders.”

The official said the BOD is an indicator of pollution. The samples tested by NGT team in April 2019 had a BOD between 90 mg/l and 100 mg/l.

“Now, the BOD level is between 12 mg/l and 15 mg/l. This is the effort of our engineers, who cracked down on offenders discharging untreated sewer directly into the drains. Our STPs at Behrampur and Dhanwapur are working fine,” said Arora.

The GMDA roped in IIT Roorkee to improve the quality of recycled sewage water at STPs. The NGT had directed the Haryana government to fix the problem on or before December 31, failing which a penalty of ₹5 lakh per STP per month would be imposed from January 1, 2020.

However, residents said that the untreated sewage is still being discharged in open areas by private tankers along the southern and northern peripheral roads.

Lalit Kumar, New Palam Vihar resident, said, “Private tankers collect untreated sewage from private societies and unauthorised colonies and villages, and dump the same at any suitable place after sunset or early morning.”