SHAGUN KAPIL By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Even as 11 new projects to rejuvenate the Yamuna were inaugurated on Thursday, the Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) interceptor sewage project is set to miss another deadline in three days. The DJB project, which aims to reduce the pollution in Yamuna by 60-70 per cent, was planned to ensure that only treated sewage is discharged into three drains of Najafgarh, Shahdara and Supplementary, which empty into the river and contribute to the largest chunk of pollution.

“One of the contractors in the project has gone bankrupt. Now we are sub-letting it. The project is 90 per cent complete and will be ready by January end now,” said a DJB official. Launched by the erstwhile Sheila Dikshit-led government, the `3,000 crore-plus project was to be completed by the 2010 Commonwealth Games but has missed several deadlines since then. The deadline has now been extended to January end next year.​

The interceptor sewer will run along the three major drains of Delhi that carry the majority of sewage. The process will involve intercepting sewage from several smaller drains that flow into these three drains from where it will be channeled to a treatment plant. The treated effluent will then be discharged back into the main drains before they meet the Yamuna.

“The interceptor sewage project should have become functional by now. It should not have been stuck by now. While new projects are coming up, earlier actions plans have not had much impact. We hope that there might have been a lot of learning along the way,” said Manu Bhatnagar, Principal Director, INTACH, who has been involved in crafting urban water policy and unconventional waste water treatment.

On Thursday, Union Minster for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone of 11 projects for rejuvenation of the Yamuna under the Namami Gange programme. Bhatnagar argues that two of the three STP projects (Kondli and Okhla) are close to the river and treated water will have to be pumped all the way back for reuse. “There should have been a significant shift towards decentralized STPs by now and treating sewage closer to the source,” he said.

For a clean Yamuna

Once it comes up, it is expected to bring down Yamuna pollution load by 60-70 per cent

It will ensure only treated sewage is discharged into three major drains —Najafgarh, Shahdara, and Supplementary

These drains flow into the river and carry majority of the sewage

Project has missed several deadlines since 2010