Delhi CM announces free septic tank cleaning services, DJB to deploy 80 trucks

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced the Mukhyamantri Septic Tank Safai Yojana, under which, the Delhi Jal Board will deploy 80 trucks along with trained staff to ensure the cleaning and maintenance of the septic tanks across the city.

"Under this scheme, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the Delhi government will undertake the task of cleaning all the septic tanks across the capital free of cost," an official statement said.

According to the government, around 45 lakh citizens in authorised and unauthorised colonies of the capital live in areas that do not have sewer pipelines and depend on septic tanks. Kejriwal said that the process to install sewage pipelines across all unauthorised colonies is going on, it is important to ensure the cleanliness of the septic tanks through safe means.

"The Chief Minister announced the Mukhyamantri Septic Tank Safai Yojana to fulfill the three-fold objective of collecting the waste from the septic tanks from the colonies, ensuring safe disposal of the waste in the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) of the government, and deploy trained staff with all the safety equipment for the work of septic tank cleaning," the statement said.

The scheme will also ensure the safety of sanitation workers and proper septic waste management to prevent contamination of river Yamuna.

"The private agencies involved in the maintenance and cleaning of the tanks do not have a valid license to do so. They carry out such activities in an unauthorised and illegal manner and do not provide any safety equipment to the workers and put their lives at risk," Kejriwal said.

"The waste collected from the septic tanks is often disposed into the drains across the city, causing groundwater contamination and water pollution. To tackle such issues, we have initiated the Mukhyamantri Septic Tank Safai Yojana," he added.

The Chief Minister also said that the government will try to pass the tenders within the next month and around 80 trucks will be procured by the Delhi Jal Board of the same.