NEW DELHI: Laying sewers in unauthorised colonies across the city is an uphill task, but to save the dying Yamuna, the Delhi Jal Board is making a last-ditch effort to prevent untreated effluents from these settlements from entering the river.

Unable to provide sewers in more than 1,400 unauthorised and un-sewered areas, the Board is trying to tap the untreated effluents and block their entry into the river.

"We are ready to provide sewers, but the process is time-consuming. About 567 colonies that have been regularised between 1983 and 2007 are yet to get their sewers, so what we are attempting to do is to tap the sewage from these illegal and un-sewered areas and taking them to sewage treatment plants," said the Board's Chief Executive Officer, Arun Mathur.

The process of providing sewers in illegal expanse having proved to be a challenge, the Jal Board is hopeful that their proposal to set up "interceptor sewers" will save the river waters.

"The sewage from 1,432 unauthorised colonies and other un-sewered areas, including rural villages and slum clusters would be trapped before it is permitted to reach all the major drains. This would be important in the context of the statistical factor that otherwise would take several years to sewer these colonies," Mr. Mathur said.

Un-sewered areas in the city have been identified as a major contributor to the city's sewage that in turn pollutes the Yamuna.

The Jal Board CEO said that a survey of about 200 unauthorised colonies where there is no sewer system has already been carried out to assess how pipelines for carrying water can be laid in those areas.

The poor condition of trunk sewers and sewage treatment plants running short of their full capacity have compounded the pollution of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla, he added.

Permission

Pointing out that the process of laying sewers in unauthorised areas would require the courts' permission as well, he said the Board would carry out feasibility surveys to ascertain the means of trapping sewage into the existing sewage systems on the periphery.

Estimates indicate that only 2,330 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage is treated in the city that generates 3,267 MLD of sewage.

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