Delhi unveils one of Asia's largest sewage plants to clean Yamuna river

Delhi government plans to clean the Yamuna to bathing standards by February 2025

The national capital's largest sewage plant, which will treat the wastewater that goes directly into the Yamuna river, will begin trial runs this November.

The plant, constructed in Okhla, is aimed at pumping out 564 million litres of treated water into the Yamuna river daily. The plant is also touted to be one of the biggest sewage plants in Asia.

G Asok Kumar, Director General (DG) of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), told News18 that water inflow into the plant will begin by November 15.

"By next month, many drains which discharge dirty water into Yamuna will get blocked, as the water will be diverted to the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). So, we expect a sufficient improvement in the quality of the river water by December," he said.

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According to reports, the plant will remove 41,200 kg of organic pollutant load daily and 61,600 kg of solid load per day on the Yamuna. It will cater to around 40 lakh residents of areas such as Chandni Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Daryaganj, NDMC areas, Lodhi Colony, Nizamuddin, Okhla, Badarpur, Kalkaji, Malviya Nagar, Katwaria Sarai, Lajpat Nagar, and Greater Kailash.

The plant will start releasing treated water into the Yamuna by November, but it will take at least a few weeks for it to stabilize. The treatment of sludge and biogas generation could begin by March 2024.

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A report by PTI stated that currently Delhi generates 792 MGD of sewage, and 35 plants across the city can treat up to 667 MGD of sewage by utilizing around 70 percent of their capacity. Around 242 MGD of sewage directly enters the river. As per the report, only 10 out of the 35 operational plants in the national capital can treat 150 million gallons of wastewater every day.

The Delhi government plans to clean the Yamuna to bathing standards by February 2025. The biochemical oxygen demand should be less than three milligrams per liter, and dissolved oxygen should be greater than five milligrams per liter to meet these standards, according to The Week. The Delhi administration plans to create in-situ treatment zones at 10 different places in Najafgarh, Supplementary, and Shahdara drains. In-situ treatment methods will include floating booms, weirs, aeration devices, and floating wetlands. Chemical dosing will also be done at strategic locations to reduce phosphate in the wastewater.