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Delhi Will Be Able To Treat All Sewage It Generates As Per Prescribed Standards By December: Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj

Addressing a press conference, Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the national capital will be able to treat around 814 million gallons of wastewater per day (MGD) as per the prescribed standards by December

Delhi Will Be Able To Treat All Sewage It Generates As Per Prescribed Standards By December: Saurabh Bharadwaj
Delhi generates 768 million gallons a day (MGD) of sewage. The 35 STPs in the city have a cumulative treatment capacity of 632 MGD.

New Delhi: Delhi will be able to treat all the sewage it generates as per the prescribed standards by December which will help reduce the pollution load on the Yamuna river, Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Friday (May 26).  Addressing a press conference, he said the sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the national capital will be able to treat around 814 million gallons of wastewater per day (MGD) as per the prescribed standards by December.

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Delhi generates 768 million gallons a day (MGD) of sewage. The 35 STPs in the city have a cumulative treatment capacity of 632 MGD. At present, these STPs are utilising only 69 per cent of their installed capacity. This means only 530 MGD of the 768 MGD sewage is being treated.

Only 160.5 MGD of the treated wastewater meets the prescribed standards according to which biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total soluble solids (TSS) in treated wastewater should be less than 10 milligrams per litre.

BOD, an important parameter for assessing water quality, is the amount of oxygen required by aerobic microorganisms to decompose organic material present in a water body. A BOD level of less than 3 milligrams per litre is considered good.

Officials said that Delhi’s sewage treatment capacity will increase to 727 MGD by June and 814 MGD by December this year. The treatment capacity will be further increased to 965 MGD by June next year to accommodate the future increase in sewage generation, they said.

Mr. Bharadwaj also said that the sewer network has been extended to 839 of the 1,799 unauthorised colonies in Delhi.

The 22-kilometre stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla in Delhi, which is less than 2 per cent of the river’s length, accounts for around 80 per cent of its pollution load.

Untapped wastewater from unauthorised colonies and jhuggi-jhopri clusters, and poor quality of treated wastewater discharged from sewage treatment plants and common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) are the main reasons behind high levels of pollution in the river.

The Delhi government has promised to clean the Yamuna to bathing standards by February 2025. The river can be considered fit for bathing if BOD is less than 3 milligrams per litre and dissolved oxygen is greater than 5 milligrams per litre.

Also Read: Entire North-East Region, A Biodiversity Hotspot, Says IIT Guwahati Professor

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ populationindigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (WaterSanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollutionwaste managementplastic banmanual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.

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