Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Sewage system pact a boost for Yamuna cleanup

New Delhi: You might finally see the Yamuna flowing ceaselessly, free of stench and squalour. The drive to clean the river by 2010 Commonwealth Games got another fillip on Monday when Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Engineers India Limited (EIL) formally signed a contract for the ambitious interceptor sewage system. This paves way for EIL to begin work on the project, two months after it was granted permission by the Cabinet. ''The signing of the contract only formalizes the process which had been underway for the past two months. EIL's ground study will be over in another six months after which work will start,'' DJB CEO Arun Mathur said. The Rs 4,000-crore scheme is the best option with the government to get the river clean in time for the Games, he said. The system proposes the laying of interceptor drains along the three main drains in the city — Najafgarh, Shahdara and Supplementary. The interceptors will trap sewage from all small drains and carry it to sewage treatment plants before emptying it into the main drains. Mathur said that the system would also ensure that even when 15,000 unauthorized colonies are not connected to the sewage system — the work on these should take about 25 years — their waste would be picked up by the interceptor system that would take it to the sewage treatment plant. DJB also intends cutting down costs on the project by making the interceptors only on one side of the drain. For smaller drains, trenchless technology would be used to carry the untreated water to the interceptor from under the main drain. The Bela Road and Ring Road trunk sewers will be rehabilitated so that sewage from the 13 drains emptying into it is taken to the Okhla plant for treatment before being emptied into the river. Reacting to criticism that DJB would only add more drains to its already unmanageable infrastructure, the official added: ''We are looking at a maintenance contract where the organisation that lays the drain will be responsible for its cleaning.''
 
 

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