Dead clean up engines killed Yamuna, wasted crores

They built sewage treatment plants (STPs). Then they built more such plants. All this while, the Yamuna kept dying bit by bit. Thousands of crores of rupees have gone waste.

A Mail Today investigation has exposed that how Delhi Jal Board (DJB) allowed-almost deliberately-clean-up plans to fail, and the river to be choked, almost entirely with raw sewage.

Delhi meets 70 per cent of its drinking water need from the river. This water is much better because it is diverted to a Haryana canal that runs along the river to Delhi. The mayhem kicks from urban Delhi, turning the river into a sewer.

Since gravity alone cannot convey sewage to most STPs, latter needs to be pumped. But DJB's sewage pumping stations (SPS) have been defunct with some making way for shops selling tea, giving haircuts and fixing punctured tyres. Others are severely under-utilised.

Delhi's 36 clean-up centres at 22 locations never get enough sewage. More plants are built, while 43 per cent of the 680 MGD (million gallons a day) of raw sewage Delhi generates keep flowing into the river. And a vicious cycle continues. On paper, Delhi's clean-up plants are almost equipped to treat the daily load.

Worse, thousands of crores of rupees being pumped now would also sink in the muck if the primary and critical clean-up component was not set right.

Nearly half of Delhi-mostly underdeveloped areas-lacks sewerage networks. But even in sewered urban areas, domestic liquid waste still reaches the river through stormwater drains.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday ordered the Capital's drinking water and sewage management utility to not spend a single rupee on new projects without its permission. An exasperated tribunal which held a closed-door meeting also said DJB deserved to be shut when its officials failed to cite the exact number of treatment plants Delhi has.

Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra has ordered a probe. "I have asked officials to review the existing infrastructure, its capacity and performance, and submit a report shortly. We need to optimise this resource."

Rs 1,514.42 crore has been spent on Yamuna Action Plan Phase-I & II in Delhi and two adjoining states. Now DJB is fixing sewer lines and clean-up plants from Rs 1,656 crore approved under YAP Phase III for Delhi alone.

YAP is based on an 85:15 cost sharing basis between the Centre and Delhi government. Manoj Misra of NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan on November 11 wrote to Mishra saying the defunct pumping stations were one of the prime reasons why the YAPs failed in Delhi.

The Urban Development Ministry and DJB are also executing a Rs 2,000-crore sewage interceptor project, which will make up for sewerage deficiency mostly in rural Delhi and unauthorised colonies. The project will be ready by 2016-end.

"Its success critically hinges on the assured sewage pumping capacity of DJB's stations. Given what is emerging now, this plan will lead to one more massive wastage of public money," Misra said.

That's not all. The Delhi government is struggling to arrange for Rs 3,659 crore to make the 'maili' Yamuna 'nirmal' by 2017, as per a plan given in January by the NGT. DJB wants to build 31 sewage treatment plants (STPs) and 21 sewage pumping stations (SPSs).

The NGT also wants revival of stormwater drains which are currently conveying sewage to the river. The NGT in August imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on officials for taking its plan casually.

Water expert SA Naqvi says most SPSs are maintained and operated by private players who cut corners to save money. "There must be an audit of existing infrastructure and its optimisation before we build new ones," he said.

An awfully under-utilised SPS in Sarita Vihar in south Delhi is a case in point. Against a designed capacity of 27 MGD the SPS received no more than 3-4 MGD. An adjacent, polluted drain is flowing as usual with no water entering the SPS while early this year, six months were invested in creation of a collection point which collapsed within one month.

Dozens of other pumping stations at places such as Kondli Gharoli, Mandawali, Dwarka sector 11, Yamuna Vihar (new) and Dallupura that Mail Today visited are in similar or worse state.

Misra seeks a white paper on the functioning of DJB. "Secret of efficient sewerage is functional sewer lines and pumping stations and not more and more STPs that remain under utilised or idle for want of sewage," he said.

There is also a shortage of monitoring labs and analysts at STPs that means more and more raw sewage into the river. Naqvi says DJB wants to benefit corporates through new constructions. The water minister, who is also DJB chairperson, promises action. "We will restructure DJB.

Action against individuals will be taken. But we're looking at blooding fresh talent for overall improvement," he said.