Water from 3 STPs to help rejuvenate Yamuna's e-flow

Restoring river's ecological balance

- Paras Singh

NEW DELHI: In a bid to rejuvenate the Yamuna and restore its environmental flow—the volume of water essential to sustain freshwater ecosystems—the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is preparing to release over 1,200 million litres per day (MLD) of highly treated wastewater into the river from three advanced sewage treatment plants (STPs).

Senior DJB officials said that a separate conveyance system will be developed to transport the treated effluent directly to the river, bypassing open drains that often re-contaminate the water.

According to the rejuvenation plan, treated water from the Coronation Pillar and Yamuna Vihar STPs will be released near Wazirabad through a closed-duct system—a water transportation pipeline system—while the Okhla STP will discharge into the Yamuna via the Abul Fazal drain.

Combined, these facilities are expected to add 1,244 MLD of treated water to the Yamuna's depleted stream.

The 22km stretch of Yamuna in Delhi, from Wazirabad barrage to Okhla Barrage, is less than 2% of the river's total length, but accounts for nearly 76% of the total pollution in the river, a Yamuna monitoring committee report noted.

The Yamuna's water quality deteriorates sharply downstream of Wazirabad, as untreated sewage and industrial waste enter the river.