Delhi government promises to clean Yamuna in 2 years

NEW DELHI:   Claiming to work proactively on its plan to completely clean the Yamuna River by 2025, the Delhi government on Friday revealed the details of its progress and highlighted milestones achieved so far. The plan encompasses various strategic initiatives that will address the long-standing pollution issues and modernise the sewage system in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference, Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the national capital will be able to treat around 814 million gallons of wastewater per day (MGD) as per the prescribed standards by December.

Delhi generates 768 million gallons a day (MGD) of sewage. The 35 STPs in the city have a cumulative treatment capacity of 632 MGD. At present, these STPs are utilising only 69 per cent of their installed capacity. This means only 530 MGD of the 768 MGD sewage is being treated.

Only 160.5 MGD of the treated wastewater meets the prescribed standards according to which biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total soluble solids (TSS) in treated wastewater should be less than 10 milligrams per litre.

Officials said that Delhi’s sewage treatment capacity will increase to 727 MGD by June and 814 MGD by December this year. The treatment capacity will be further increased to 965 MGD by June next year to accommodate the future increase in sewage generation, they said.

Bharadwaj also said that the sewer network has been extended to 839 of the 1,799 unauthorised colonies in Delhi.  The 22-kilometre stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla in Delhi, which is less than 2 per cent of the river’s length, accounts for around 80 per cent of its pollution load.

Untapped wastewater from unauthorised colonies and jhuggi-jhopri clusters, and poor quality treated wastewater discharged from sewage treatment plants and common effluent treatment plants
(CETPs) are the main reasons behind high levels of pollution in the river.

The Delhi government has promised to clean the Yamuna to bathing standards by  February 2025. The river can be considered fit for bathing if BOD is less than 3 milligrams per litre and dissolved oxygen is greater than 5 milligrams per litre.