The Hindu : New Delhi News : Jal Board, EIL join hands

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Jal Board, EIL join hands

Staff Reporter

Sign an agreement to aid Yamuna cleaning

Photo: S. Subramanium

New Pact: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit flanked by Engineers India Ltd. CMD Mukesh Rohatgi and Delhi Jal Board CEO Arun Mathur after signing the agreement on Yamuna cleaning project in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: To ensure that no untreated sewage enters the Yamuna, the Delhi Jal Board on Monday signed an agreement with Engineers India Limited for laying interceptor lines along three major drains.

The lines would intercept sewage flowing into these three major drains from small drains and convey the same to the nearest sewage treatment plant, ensuring that only treated sewage is discharged into the Yamuna.

The agreement was signed by DJB Chief Executive Officer Arun Mathur and EIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Rohatgi in the presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Dikshit observed: “The solution evolved by the DJB was taken to the Supreme Court which further subjected it to scrutiny by an Inter-Ministerial Committee, besides the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. This committee also fully endorsed the concept and its report has since been accepted by the Supreme Court.”

Describing the signing of the agreement as a landmark occasion, Ms. Dikshit added: “The Yamuna project if implemented in letter and in spirit not only by the DJB but by all other stakeholder departments like the MCD, DDA, Irrigation and Flood Control Department among others, will ensure that by 2010 the Capital can have a clean Yamuna river.”

Mr. Mathur explained that pollution in the Yamuna was caused not only due to untreated sewage entering the river but also through garbage, industrial waste, plastic, litter and other wastes. According to him, another major factor causing pollution in the Delhi stretch of 22 km of Yamuna from Wazirabad to Okhla barrage was the absence of dilution in the river. This was because the releases by upstream States were not enough even to fully meet the Capitals’ drinking water requirements, leading to very little fresh water in this 22 km stretch. A major part of what constitutes the river in this stretch is the water coming through 18 major drains.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi