Jain lays foundation stone of 505-km sewer networks

New Delhi: Delhi Water Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday laid the foundation stone of a 505-km sewer network for 84 colonies and 27 villages of the Najafgarh and Matiala Assembly constituencies, according to an official statement.

In Najafgarh constituency, Jain along with Cabinet Minister Kailash Gahlot launched the work for laying 346-km sewer lines while in Matiala, the foundation stone for 159-kilometre sewer lines was laid. Once built, these sewer lines will benefit approximately eight lakh people.

Jain, who is also the Delhi Jal Board chairman, said this sewerage system will contribute greatly towards cleaning the Yamuna river.

Currently, due to the non-availability of the sewerage system, generated sewerage from this area is being discharged into the local ponds, septic tanks and stormwater drain. The drains indirectly discharge into the Yamuna the Najafgarh drain increasing the pollution levels, he said.

"To reduce this, sewer lines will be laid to collect and treat the waste at nearby sewage treatment plant... not a

single drop of untreated sewage will fall into the Yamuna," Jain was quoted as saying in a statement. Cabinet Minister and Najafgarh MLA Kailash Gahlot claimed that Delhi's villages were ignored for over 70 years. "But under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, villages and colonies in outer Delhi are writing new stories of development

every day." "After providing a water pipeline, we will now connect every household in a rural area with a sewer line... This work will be completed in 15 months," Gahlot said.

In Matiala, Jain said that the "intervention of laying

sewer lines will act as a turning point in the history of the development of villages in Matiala".

Recently the Delhi government laid the foundation stone of sewer lines in 16 unauthorized colonies of Bawana and Narela constituencies.

Another 71.51-km-long sewer line has also been laid in Sangam Vihar and Deoli.