Gurugram: GMDA begins pre-construction work for 3 STPs

Gurugram: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has received the state government’s nod to build three more sewage treatment plants in the city,

Gurugram: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has received the state government’s nod to build three more sewage treatment plants in the city, – at Bajghera, Dhankot and Jahajgarh – officials in the Authority’s infrastructure department said Saturday. However, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown imposed to curb its spread, execution of the projects will take at least another year-and-a-half, they clarified.

HT Image

“The STPs of Bajghera and Dhankot have been in the pipeline for some time. As the lockdown has eased, we have opened tenders for them. Both areas are currently disposing of the bulk of their sewage untreated into the city’s drainage system. The chief minister gave his nod for the projects and we are already carrying out technical evaluation for both STPs,” said Pradeep Kumar, chief engineer, GMDA.

In addition, the GMDA and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) together are setting up a 20 million liters per day (MLD) sewage treatment plant in Jahajgarh. “The corporation and the GMDA were building two separate 10MLD plants nearby, but there has been a land acquisition issue with the GMDA’s proposed STP in Sector 107. It has been decided now to split the costs and create one 20MLD capacity STP at the civic body’s location in Jahajgarh, which we will oversee,” Kumar said. A tender for this project has been floated, and pre-bid meetings with potential vendors have been conducted, he added.

MCG QUOTE

While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had earlier directed the district administration to complete all capacity building (for treatment of sewage) by December 2020, Kumar explained that the deadline is no longer feasible. “We had already asked for an extension of the deadline prior to the lockdown. We will make another appeal to the NGT to allow till at least December 2021. The past three months have been a huge setback, and even though we are trying to make up for lost time, our contractors themselves are unable to find the required work force,” Kumar also said.

The GMDA currently treats 388MLD of water every day at its STPs at Dhanwapur and Behrampur, of which it uses roughly 25MLD of recycled water in green belts and discharges the remaining into the Najafgarh drain. Besides that, the city discharges roughly 80 to 90MLD of untreated water to drains and in open areas leading to Najafgarh drain from unauthorised colonies, many villages and other areas. “With these three upcoming STPs, the GMDA will be able to treat about 410MLD of sewage per day. “That should bring us in compliance with the NGT’s instructions,” Kumar said.