In a major step towards cleaning the Yamuna River, the Delhi Government on Monday laid foundation stone to set up the country’s largest Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Okhla. This Coronation Plant will be the first experiment in the nation to treat the waste water.
The Delhi Government has adopted the idea of Singapore water treatment plan and under this initiative; the treated water will be let into the Yamuna at Palla and collected at Wazirabad.
The water will get naturally treated due to the river flow and this experiment has tremendous potential to meet India’s water needs.
The foundation stone for the STP which is expected to treat 56.4 Crore litres of waste water per day was laid by the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Jalshakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
“I want to thank the Central government for its support in this project. Not only is the Centre providing 85 percent funding for this project, it has also been a supportive partner along the way.
This STP will treat 564 crore litres of waste water per day and will reduce release of sewage into River Yamuna in a big way, “ said Kejriwal who also hold the portfolio of Delhi Department of Water.
At present Okhla Sewage Treatment complex comprises of six existing STPs, namely Phase-I (136 MLD), Phase-II (55 MLD), Phase-III (205 MLD), Phase-IV (168 MLD), Phase-V (73 MLD) and Phase-VI (136 MLD). The existing Phase-I, II, III and IV STPs were constructed in the year 1937, 1982, 1991 and 1993.
Elaborating on his proposal, the Chief Minister said, “Every monsoon, the river overflows and all that overflow water is wasted. Several studies, including an IIT Delhi study show that if we are able to conserve that water, it will satisfy Delhi’s drinking water needs for the entire year.
This year we proposed a small pilot for this project and we needed a lot of permissions from the Centre to go ahead with it. The Minister and the Central Government have been very supportive on this front as well and I am grateful for that. Delhi’s multiplicity of agencies can be overcome if these agencies work together,” he added.
The new plant will also have provision of online monitoring of quality parameters of effluent, SCADA, power generation from biogas and sludge management.
Disposal of sludge in a scientific manner will address environmental related issues. The plant is being constructed under Yamuna Action Plan-III for which 85% funds are being provided by Govt. of India from loan received from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and remaining 15 percent by Delhi Government, said the official.
“Water conservation needs to become a public movement for every citizen of Delhi and India. We will have to rise above our political and personal beliefs and unite to conserve water.
The foundation stone being laid today is for 500 MLD out of the 2000 MLD capacity of water treatment plants that the Centre and Delhi are working on together. Of the 298 projects sanctioned for cleaning the Yamuna, 14 are in Delhi,” said the Union Minister.
The event was also attended by senior Government officials such as Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, Vice-Chairperson (VC) of Delhi Jal Board (DJB)Dinesh Mohaniya, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), DJB Nikhil Kumar and other senior officials of the DJB.
