New Delhi: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has almost completed the construction of a 7-MGD new sewage treatment plant at Sonia Vihar, which will help reduce pollution in the Yamuna River, officials said on Tuesday. According to the DJB, the Sonia Vihar drain, which receives sewage from several unauthorised colonies of Sonia Vihar, Karawal Nagar and Khazoori Khas, is being fully trapped and the wastewater will be diverted to the upcoming plant for further treatment.
At present, Delhi produces approximately 792 MGD of sewage, of which DJB’s 37 operational STPs can treat only about 610 MGD. The remaining untreated sewage often ends up in the Yamuna River, further polluting the river.
Several STPs are being enhanced as well as new ones are coming up to increase its overall sewage treatment capacity.
Many STPs, which do not meet the treatment standards, are under upgradation.
“The drain is connected to several areas east of Yamuna where sewer lines have been laid down in the past few years connecting to the drain. The work is 98 per cent complete,” the official said. Along with the plant, a wastewater treatment pumping station in the Rajiv Nagar area is being constructed by the board. In the first budget of the new BJP government, the water and sewerage sector has been given Rs 9,000 crore, one of the biggest shares. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has allocated Rs 500 crore for STP repairs and rehabilitation of projects.
Earlier in April, Water minister Parvesh Verma had directed the DJB to carry out a third-party audit of all its existing 37 STPs.