Overview
- Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa visited the Okhla common effluent treatment plants on Monday to review Biological Oxygen Demand readings, treatment flow capacity and facility performance.
- Officials said the Okhla CETPs together treat about 24 million litres per day and that many CETPs across the city run on 20–25 year old technology that needs replacement or modernisation.
- The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute is conducting a detailed technical survey to recommend specific technology upgrades and operational changes for CETPs and STPs.
- The Delhi government has sanctioned more than Rs 1,000 crore for a Yamuna rejuvenation package that includes 12 new sewage treatment plants, upgradation of the Keshopur STP, trunk sewer rehabilitation and rainwater harvesting projects.
- For now the work is at the planning and assessment stage with funding and surveys in place but physical modernisation and new construction remain to be implemented on the ground, a step that officials say is needed to stop industrial effluent from reaching the Yamuna and improve public health and river ecology.