The Hindu : New Delhi News : Row over flow of treated water

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 13, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Row over flow of treated water

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 12. With more than half the sewage generated in the city finding its way into the Yamuna and the treated sewage being dumped back into the drains, the management -- or mis-management -- of the Capital's Sewage Treatment Plants has the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority and the Delhi Jal Board at loggerheads.

According to EPCA, while the 30-odd STP's of the city treat waste water, the treated water is dumped into the drains that transport the untreated sewage into the Yamuna. In particular, the EPCA has pointed out the case of the Kondli STP where the treated effluent is dumped into the Shahadra outfall drain that continues for another 5.5 kilometres stretch through Noida, picking up more sewage on the way.

Questioning the logic of such planning, the member of EPCA, Sunita Narain, said: "What is the point of throwing the treated river back into the drains? This happens in the case of most STPs in the Capital. But in the case of Kondli, this is even more striking because the river is close by.

They can make a pipeline to transport the clean water directly into the Yamuna. Why do they have to take it through this extra 5.5 km stretch where it gets dirtier? How does this help in pollution control? We are looking for a solution to look at the technical feasibility of taking the treated effluent directly into the river, if it is clean enough.''

According to EPCA, the entire issue has to be re-looked as the current proposal to put the water into the Noida drain is "not an option''.

However, the DJB has dragged its feet on the issue for the past several months and claims that this is not a "techno-eco'' solution.

"The treated water has to go somewhere. This is done everywhere. We have planned a regulator at Chila that would take care of all the untreated sewage. As for the waste that is added in the Noida stretch, that is not our concern because it does not fall under us,'' said a DJB official.

On the other hand, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee has its own argument in the case of Yamuna pollution.

"Whether the treated water reaches the Yamuna along with the untreated water or whether it reaches the Yamuna directly, it will meet the polluted water anyway. By putting the treated water into the drains we are diluting the waste. That will take care of some of the waste at least,'' claimed a DPCC official.

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