Sewage treatment plants not working up to capacity: govt

Despite having a capacity of 2742 million litres per day (mld), the sewage treatment plants (STPs) are receiving sewage flow of only around 1590-1635 mld and are being underutilized, government today said.
"As per Delhi Jal Board, the installed STP capacity in Delhi is 2742 mld. However, STPs are receiving sewage flow of only around 1590-1635 mld and are being underutilized due to settlements or blockage of existing trunk sewers, non-availability of sewerage system and absence of house sewer connections in certain areas of the city," said Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar to the Rajya Sabha.

He further said conservation of rivers is ongoing and the ministry is supplementing the efforts of state governments in addressing the problem of Yamuna pollution by providing financial assiatnce.
Works pertaining to sewerage and diversion of drains, upgradation of existing STPs and construction of new STPs, low-cost sanitation, electric crematoria etc have been taken up in Delhi under YAP phase-I and II on which an expenditure of Rs 732.72 crore has been incurred, the House was told.
Additional sewage treatment capacity of 165 mld has been created and rehabilitation of existing treatment capacity of 328.20 mld has been done under the two phases of YAP in Delhi so far leading to reduction of pollution load in the river, he said.

Further, YAP Phase III for Delhi has been approved with a cost of Rs 1656 crore. Under the project, DJB is implementing rehabilitation of existing truck sewers and rising mains, upgradation of exisiting 7 STPs with a total treatment capacity of 814 mld and construction of a new 136 mld STP.
He said DJB is also implementing an interceptor project under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission costing Rs 1357 crore to intercept sewage flow into river Yamuna from three major drains namely Najafgarh, Supplementary and Shahadra in Delhi.
Apart from that, DJB is also constructing STPs having treatment capacity of 363 mld capacity at various locations from its own recources, he said.