Focus on clean Yamuna, zero water pollution: Gopal Rai

NEW DELHI: Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai visited a sewage treatment plant at Delhi Gate on Saturday and said cleaning the Yamuna and eradicating water pollution in the next the five years were the government’s priorities.
Apart from air, water pollution is a major environmental issue in Delhi, a senior official said, adding that the river suffers from heavy pollution due to untreated sewage from various water sources across the city that run straight into the river.
There are around 35 STPs across Delhi, which are working on eliminating pollutants from these waterbodies using technologically advanced mechanisms. “These plants are working on purifying untreated water, generating gases that run these plants and extracting waste from water, which can be made into compost. Our focus is solely on eliminating water pollution from the city,” Rai said.
The newly-appointed minister also pointed out that the treatment of Najafgarh and Shahdara drains was under way. “These two drains contribute about 60% of the total pollution load, which is discharged into the river. Under the treatment process, Delhi government is implementing the interceptor sewer project (ISP) in six packages under which the waste water flowing in these drains will be trapped and diverted to STPs. The ISP is likely to be completed by March 31,” he said.
Rai suggested that close interaction should be held with DJB to ensure the waste water trapped in ISP get treated to meet the standards observed in the STP at Delhi Gate, which is meeting BOD level 6-8 mg/litres, less than 10 mg/litre, for which it was designed. This will help ensure establishment of good quality water treatment mechanisms across Delhi in the long-run, he added.
“Our primary focus is cleaning the Yamuna and eliminating waste from the local waterbodies across the city in the next five years. Once successful, we will work on developing the riverfront,” he said.
Earlier, the minister had chaired a high-level meeting with the officials of the environment department and Delhi Pollution Control Committee to formulate action plan to resolve environmental issues in the city. Several meetings and visits have been planned over the next few days to oversee the functioning of pollution monitoring bodies. A roundtable conference with experts will also be held at Delhi Secretariat on February 27.