'Untreated industrial waste a major concern'

Even as Delhi gears up to upgrade and modernize its sewage treatment plants in an effort to clean the Yamuna, untreated discharge from the industrial areas remains a key concern, showed the latest monthly report of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

- Paras Singh

Of the 13 installed common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) meant to process wastewater from 28 approved industrial zones, six have failed to meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for key poliution markers, as per the report.

The CETPs at Badli, Lawrence Road and GTK Road breached biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) norms, while plants at SMA Industrial Area, Narela and Okhla did not meet prescribed sulphide or sulphide-linked standards.

The maximum permissible BOD level for discharged water is 30mg/L.

Against that benchmark, Badli recorded 35mg/L, GTK Road 38mg/L and Lawrence Road 33mg/L.

For sulphides, where the limit is 2mg/L, SMA logged 2.3mg/L, Narela 2.lmg/L and Okhla 2.5mg/L. CETPs in Jhilmil, Wazirpur, Naraina, Mayapuri, Mangolpuri and Nangloi were compliant, the DPCC report states.