Centre to implement KC Valley model across India

The Centre is working on replicating the KC Valley project from Karnataka across the country as the government aims to accelerate the plans to reuse wastewater.

“The Jal Shakti Ministry has studied the Karnataka government’s project on supplying recycled water to fill up lakes. Same will be implemented in other states as well,” an official in the Ministry told DH.

The Karnataka Government’s Koramangala-Challaghatta Valley (KC Valley) lift irrigation project is the first of its kind, where treated water from Bengaluru is being supplied to fill up lakes in neighbouring dry districts of Bengaluru Rural, Kolar and Chikkballapura. Now the same project is being extended to supply treated water to Anekal in Bengaluru Urban district and parts of Kanakapura in Ramanagara district also.

"After the project had shown very good results in recharging groundwater in areas where lakes filled with treated water, the Jal Shakti Ministry decided that the project is worth implementing in other states also," said the official.

The Jal Shakti Ministry also agreed to the Karnataka Government’s request to give part funds to KC Valley project under Atal Bhujal Yojana, said the official.

"The Ministry is also in the view that the KC Valley project needed to be upgraded with better tertiary treatment and bio-remedial treatment of water. The Centre will inform Karnataka to upgrade this so that treated water will be more clean," said the official.

While suggesting other states adopt the KC Valley project model to fill lakes with recycled treated water, the Ministry is also planning to fund such projects.

With the groundwater table depleting many parts of the country, the Jal Shakti Ministry is aggressively pushing states to reuse treated wastewater. Under the country’s groundwater recharge scheme, Atal Bhujal Yojana, 81 water-scarce districts are on course to get 10.42 million recharge units to capture 1.85 billion cubic metre of monsoon rains, says the Jal Shakti Ministry data.

Recently, Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the ‘Sujalam 2.0’ grey water recycling project to reuse grey water, or run-offs from kitchens, bathing and laundry. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, India generated 72,368 MLD (million litres per day).