PolicyUrban Water
Amit Shah launches ₹8,941 crore plan to keep Delhi's sewage out of the Yamuna
The Home Minister opened or laid foundation stones for 43 Delhi Jal Board projects in Najafgarh and set May 2029 as the target to clean the river.
Key points
- The package covers 43 Delhi Jal Board projects worth ₹8,941.22 crore.
- A new 124 MGD sewage treatment plant at Okhla is the biggest single item.
- Shah said the government would clean the Yamuna by May 2029.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched a ₹8,941 crore package of sewage and water projects in Delhi, which the city’s government says will finally stop untreated waste from its drains flowing into the Yamuna.
At an event in the Najafgarh area, Shah inaugurated 10 Delhi Jal Board projects worth ₹2,827.11 crore and laid the foundation stones for 33 more worth ₹6,114.11 crore. He said the government would clean the Yamuna by May 2029. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was with him.
What is being built
The single largest work is a new 124 million gallons a day (MGD) sewage treatment plant at Okhla, costing ₹1,161 crore. Eight existing plants are to be upgraded for ₹1,041 crore, lifting their combined capacity from 78.2 MGD to 140.8 MGD, for the benefit of about 78.5 lakh people.
For outer Delhi, the package includes 29 decentralised treatment plants and pumping stations worth ₹3,113.67 crore. They are meant to serve 358 unauthorised colonies and 113 villages, home to about 36 lakh people, many of which have never had a sewer connection. A further 1,034 km of sewer lines will be laid for ₹1,691 crore.
There is also a 477 million litres a day water treatment plant at Chandrawal, costing ₹298.3 crore, which replaces facilities built in 1935 and 1955 and will serve around 22 lakh people, and a 4.5 km trunk drain at Mundka for ₹225.02 crore.
From the ghats to the drains
Delhi Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh has argued that cleaning the riverbanks alone cannot bring the Yamuna back, and that the aim must be to collect, treat and reuse every drop of sewage before it reaches the river. He has said the works should be finished in two to two and a half years, with visible improvement in about a year and a half.
The launch came four days after the “Chalo Yamuna” drive on 18 October, when more than 35,000 people cleared about 76,755 kg of dry waste from 70 spots along the river, from Wazirabad to Chilla.
Singh has also announced a “Birthday with Yamuna” scheme, under which huts will be put up on the banks for people to celebrate birthdays by the river. He said he would mark his own there on 7 November.
The Yamuna has been the subject of repeated cleaning promises by successive governments in Delhi and at the Centre. The test for this package will be whether the plants are finished on time and run at full capacity once they are.