Pipelines, water ATMs and ways to save dying Yamuna

 With new water pipelines for unauthorised colonies, 500 water ATMs and a number of sewage and water treatment plants being announced in the Delhi Budget, the Centre has tried to control the city’s water crisis and pollution in river Yamuna.

The Centre has allocated an amount of Rs 711 crore for piped water supply in 50 unauthorised colonies and construction of sewerage system in 95 such colonies.Four new sewage treatment plants (STPs) were also approved by the Centre which will help in cleaning of river Yamuna.

After commissioning of the STPs at Pappan Kalan, Nilothi, Yamuna Vihar and Delhi Gate by the end of this year, the total sewage treatment capacity of Delhi will increase from 604 to 684 million gallons a day (MGD).

The long pending demand of 80 MGD raw water from neighbouring state of Haryana is also likely to be met soon.

In the Budget, the Centre has emphasised on commissioning of the parallel canal from Munak to Haiderpur after resolving issues with the Haryana government.

“This will make available 80 MGD raw water for newly constructed water treatment plants at Dwarka (40 MGD), Okhla (20 MGD) and Bawana (20 MGD) for a population of about 35 lakhs living in South, South-West, West and North-West parts of Delhi,” Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said in his speech in Parliament.

An initial amount of Rs 50 crore has already been approved for commissioning of long pending Renuka Dam project in Uttarakhand which will provide 50 MGD water to the city.

The government plans a new programme for improvement of the present water treatment and distribution facilities.

“This programme includes complete renovation and modernisation of Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant at a cost of Rs 2,018 crore and Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant at a cost of Rs 2,243 crore under Externally Aided Project (EAP) to be partly funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) respectively,” Jaitley said.

Decentralised distribution


For decentralised water distribution system, the government has approved setting up of 500 new water ATMs across the city with water purifiers equipped with reverse osmosis technology (RO).

For laying down of interceptor sewer along with the three major drains of Delhi, the government has allocated Rs 1,976 crores and the project is likely to be completed by June 2015. This will help reduce flushing of sewage into Yamuna.

“It is proposed to source National and international technical expertise by Government of NCT of Delhi for ecological rejuvenation of the Yamuna River. I also propose to take up beautification of riverbanks in Delhi,” the minister said.

A plan outlay of Rs 750.80 crore was sanctioned for the sewerage sector.A 40 MGD STP is planned with technical support of Singapore Government. This treated effluent is proposed to be discharged into Yamuna River at Palla, so as to have more raw water lifted at Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant (WTP) for treatment. The government has also provided a fund of Rs 17 crore for construction of toilets in the slum areas.