The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) plans to construct sewage treatment plants to generate treated water under a comprehensive irrigation project for its 750 green spaces.
The land-owning agency, which maintains numerous parks, biodiversity parks, reserved forests, the Yamuna Riverfront, green belts, golf courses and sports complexes spanning across over 10,000 acres, is planning a water management project focusing on — cost-effectiveness and self-sufficient irrigation systems.
Officials said currently the treated water for green spaces is provided directly through water tankers, or pipelines, laid down by Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for supplying water to the parks. Now the agency plans on setting up its own sewage treatment plans (STPs) and irrigation systems, reducing its dependence on external agencies, they said.
“Currently, in some parks we have tankers, and in some pipelines are connected to the nearest DJB STP. Now we want a comprehensive system for which a consultant will be hired to prepare the project report and submit all the aspects of design and operation,” a DDA official told to media. According to data available on DDA’s website, it has a requirement of around 34 million liters per day (MLD) of water for all its parks and green spaces. The department for this supply is largely dependent on DJB.
The consultant will have to conduct a detailed study to identify the current water demand for irrigation across all designated parks and evaluate the availability of treated water from existing and potential sources, the official said.
The consultant will develop a comprehensive plan to capture raw sewage, design STPs including all technical aspects such as capacity, technology and treatment processes and ensure the supply of treated water from STPs, as per the plan.
“Through this process, DDA aims to explore viable options for enhancing water efficiency while minimising costs, ensuring the long-term sustainability of its parks and green areas,” the official added.
In compliance with the National Green Tribunal’s directives to curtail the depletion of groundwater in the national capital and to stop the further extraction of groundwater for gardening purposes, DDA has focused on the use of treated wastewater for horticulture purposes.
