Union minister Shah launches 43 projects aimed at Yamuna clean-up

New DelhiUnion home minister Amit Shah on Thursday inaugurated and laid the foundation for a slew of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) projects worth ₹8,941

New Delhi

Union home minister Amit Shah at an event to launch the project. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday inaugurated and laid the foundation for a slew of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) projects worth ₹8,941.22 crore aimed at cleaning up the Yamuna by setting up wastewater treatment plants and improving water supply across Delhi.

Officials aware of the details said that 10 projects worth ₹2,827.11 crore were commissioned and the foundation for 33 projects worth ₹6,114.11 crore was laid.

Chief minister Rekha Gupta, who was accompanying Shah, said, “The focus is on intercepting drains, modernising old sewage treatment plants (STPs), setting up new STPs, laying sewer lines and connecting the sewer network to STPs.”

Delhi water minister Parvesh Verma, who was also present, said the projects covered STPs, decentralised STPs, pumping stations, drains and water treatment plants. “Under the previous government, tenders were floated, cancelled and floated again. Files kept moving, but the work never started,” Verma said.

One of the key projects pertains to interception and diversion of sewage from the Barapullah and Maharani Bagh drains—which used to flow straight into the Yamuna—to the Okhla STP through a new 35 million gallons per day (mgd) pumping station at Batla House. Eight existing STPs will be upgraded at a cost of ₹1,041 crore, raising their capacity from 78.2mgd to 140.8mgd, which will cover a population of around 7.85 million people, Verma said.

Twenty-nine of decentralised STPs and sewage pumping stations, worth ₹3,113.67 crore, will cover 358 unauthorised colonies and 113 villages, which house around 3.63 million people, in Narela, Bawana, Kanjhawala, Bijwasan, Tikri Kalan and nearby areas.

“Sewage from these areas will be treated close to where it is produced, so it does not end up in the drains. Another ₹1,691 crore will be spent on 1,034km of sewer network for about 25.82 lakh people,” Verma said.

A 2mgd recycling plant at Bawana, and a line carrying 4mgd of treated water from the Kapashera STP to Bijwasan for horticulture and other non-potable uses is set to ease the pressure on freshwater demand.

“A new 477 million litre per day (mld) water treatment plant at Chandrawal, built at ₹298.3 crore, replaces plants set up in 1935 and 1955. It will serve about 22 lakh people in Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal, Ballimaran, Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Rajinder Nagar and New Delhi,” a government official said.