Delhi LG directs cleaning of 200km sewer lines at Yamuna meet

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[google-translator]

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who chaired the third review meeting of National Green Tribunal (NGT)-constituted Yamuna cleaning committee at the Asita East biodiversity park on Tuesday, said the desilting of sewer lines has emerged as the biggest challenge in the river clean-up project.

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena chaired the third review meeting of National Green Tribunal (NGT)-constituted Yamuna cleaning committee at the Asita East biodiversity park on Tuesday. (PTI)
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena chaired the third review meeting of National Green Tribunal (NGT)-constituted Yamuna cleaning committee at the Asita East biodiversity park on Tuesday. (PTI)

Saxena directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to expedite desilting 200km of trunk and peripheral sewer lines across Delhi, officials said. According to the targets fixed by the panel, desilting 90km of trunk sewer lines has to be completed by June, 2023, and the remaining 110km is expected to be cleaned by September, 2023.

Directing criticism towards DJB, the LG office alleged ‘gross inaction and neglect’ on their part, saying that the DJB did not undertake any cleaning work for the last 8-10 years, resulting in choked sewer lines.

Saxena said that he reviewed the progress of works based on outcomes of previous meetings and asked officers to ensure that desilting of sewer lines be taken up in mission mode. “Trapping of drains, construction of sewage treatment plants, management of septage and restoration of floodplains are going on as per schedule. I have expressed satisfaction at the works completed so far and remain hopeful that the future plan of action will be enforced in time, before the review by NGT in July. We owe the future generations a clean Yamuna,” Saxena said.

“The sewer lines are choked up to 80-90% than the expected 40-50%. Apart from sewage waste, meant to go into sewer lines, they are choked with boulders as well as municipal solid waste due to manholes being left open and unattended,” an official statement from the LG secretariat said.

According to the status report submitted to the panel, DJB said they desilted 21.9km of trunk sewer lines so far, out of which only 6.74km was cleaned last month. The agency has been tasked to clean 90km by June. The estimates for the second phase to clear 1,100km of sewer lines are still being prepared, the report said.

An LG secretariat official said that Saxena also reviewed other projects like 100% treatment of sewage, trapping of all 242 drains, expansion of sewage network in unauthorised colonies and environment management of Najafgarh Jheel.

“In case of the 40 decentralised smarter wastewater treatment (STP) system, the Delhi Development Authority has been directed to complete the land allotment by March while land matters pertaining to police will be taken up by the commissioner of police on next Monday,” the report said.

DJB officials did not respond to questions despite repeated requests.

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