DPCC chief Yadav: 300 septage machines will not solve Yamuna's pollution problem

New Delhi: Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Devender Yadav on Monday wondered why the Delhi government was prioritising the cleaning of septic tanks in unauthenticated colonies through the Yamuna Swachhta Abhiyan initiative when they could be laying sewerage pipes. He even asked the Chief Minister Rekha Gupta why they were using 300 septage cleaning machines.

While addressing a press meet, Yadav accused the BJP-run Delhi government of trying to fool Delhi residents with the announcement of the allocation of 300 free septage cleaning machines. "In the past 10 months, the Rekha Gupta government has merely made announcements regarding the cleaning of the Yamuna, and now septic tank cleaning is being associated with the campaign for the rejuvenation of the Yamuna to win the sympathy of the people," Yadav accused as he suggested that instead of wasting crores of rupees on septic tank cleaning, the government should install sewerage pipes in the unauthorised colonies.

Commenting on the steps that need to be undertaken for proper cleaning of the Yamuna, the DPCC Chairman suggested that the Delhi Jal Board needs to concentrate on increasing the capacity of the 124 MGD sewage treatment plant in Okhla, which was a huge success when it was inaugurated this year. Further, he advocated that small-scale sewage treatment plants need to be installed in areas where sewers are less, such as Najafgarh and Tikri Kalan, to treat the waste in those areas themselves, thereby avoiding transportation hassles. Finally, the DPCC Chairman emphasized that sewers need to be installed along the major drains such as Najafgarh Drain, Supplementary Drains, and Shahdara Drain in the framework of the Interceptor Sewer Project to ensure that raw sewage does not enter the river.

Yadav also appealed to the DJB to give utmost importance to the rehabilitation of old and broken sewerage lines, removal of blockages, and the inclusion of sewerage-starved areas and unauthorised colonies in the sewerage network. In view of the growing number of people in Delhi, he said that the capacity and number of sewerage treatment plants needed to be augmented as most of the untreated sewage kept flowing into the Yamuna. Quoting from the Delhi Jal Board’s Waste Management Rules of 2018, Yadav added that presently there are 150 contractors who look after the disposal of septage waste at the sewage pumping stations and 86 collection centers.

They process 30-40 crore liters of septage every month. He claimed that the government is only talking about what needs to happen in the next one or two years and is not paying attention to today’s problems faced by citizens. The Delhi government has failed to address water and air pollution and are making citizens drink polluted water and breathe polluted air, he added.