DJB starts trial run of interceptor sewage project

Delhi Jal Board today started the trial run of the interceptor sewage project aimed at checking pollution of Yamuna.
The trial run for the first-phase, involving interception of 9 million gallons per day of sewage in Palam drain and diverting it to Pappan Kalan Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) started today.
The project involves laying of parallel channels in a 59 km length along the three major drains of Delhi- Najafgarh, Supplementary and Shahdara drains, the DJB officials said.
These will intercept sewage from the several smaller drains that flow into these three drains, carrying it to the nearest sewage treatment plant and discharging the treated effluent back into the main drains before they meet the Yamuna.

About 4-5 million gallons daily (MGD) of the treated effluent is to be given to Delhi Development Authority for use in district parks in Dwarka, reducing its dependency on groundwater. The remaining will be discharged back into the Najafgarh drain, the officials said.
Under phase-1, DJB has also undertaken the work of augmenting the existing capacity of STPs at the mouth of Delhi Gate, from the existing 2.2 to 17.2 MGD.
At present the city is already treating 360 MGD of sewage and after completion of all the six phases of the project, the interceptors will increase that by another 200 MGD, the Delhi Jal Board officials said.

The project was expected to be completed before the 2010 Commonwealth Games but got delayed. It was finally inaugurated in December 2011 and was supposed to be operational by 2014-end.