With the aim to develop a sustainable plan to clean the Yamuna River by reducing the amount of industrial waste coming through storm water drains, the Delhi Government is planning to boost the capacity utilisation of all the existing 13 Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) of the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (DSIIDC).

The move to boost the capacity utilisation of all CETPs will ensure that all industrial waste gets treated before falling into the Yamuna. Additionally, the Minister directed senior officials of the DSIIDC to connect all the storm water drains carrying industrial waste to the CETPs.

Water and Industries Minister Satyendar Jain convened a meeting with DSIIDC, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) scientists. He took strict notice of the illegal industries that are discharging industrial waste directly into the Yamuna and storm water drains. He directed the officials to shut all these illegal water-polluting industries in Delhi with immediate effect.

He said, “All water-polluting industries running illegally in Delhi will be shut with immediate effect. DSIIDC will put a seal on them if any such industry keeps functioning.”

The Yamuna receives an appreciable volume of untreated wastewater through storm water drains. These storm water drains carry both industrial as well domestic waste depending on the locality of the drains. The cleaning of all these sources will aid in the cleaning of the Yamuna.

“Delhi has 29 industrial clusters spread across the Capital. These 29 clusters have 13 CETPs, which can treat 212 MLD of industrial waste at their full capacity. Currently, these CETPs are treating around 50-55 MLD of industrial waste,” Satyendar Jain said.

“There is enough infrastructure available with the DSIIDC in the form of 13 CETPs to treat the industrial waste. However, these are not utilised to their maximum capacity,” the DJB said in a statement.

“To clean the industrial waste flowing into the Yamuna, all the available resources must be utilised to their maximum capacity and all departments must work and achieve their individual targets within three years. Complete utilisation of these resources will help to achieve the target to clean the Yamuna,” it added. The officials present in the meeting pointed out the issue of discharge of industrial waste into the storm water drain by the industries. Following it, Jain directed the officials to connect the storm water drains carrying industrial waste to CETPs, so that only treated and clean water is discharged into the Yamuna.