In a significant move to control pollution in the Yamuna, the city administration has undertaken a comprehensive project that will include water transportation and beautification of all the ghats in Delhi. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) will spend over Rs 25,000 crores to set up an “interceptor sewer project” to clean all the polluting drains before they enter the river.The DJB will set up the 59-km interceptor sewer along the three major drains Supplementary, Najafgarh and Shahdara to intercept sewage from around 190 subsidiary small drains and convey it to the nearest sewage treatment plant (STP) to ensure that only treated effluent is discharged into these major drains. “By this, about 70 per cent of pollution load in the river shall be reduced,” a senior government official said. The existing interceptor sewer between Aruna Nagar JJ Cluster up to the outfall of Khyber Pass drain, which intercepts untreated sewage from Sweeper Colony, Magazine Road and Khyber Pass drain, will be made fully-functional by June 2015. “The discharge intercepted from these drains shall be pumped to Nigam Bodh SPS and taken to the existing Okhla STP, which has a total treatment capacity of 170 MGD,” the official said.The Metcalf House, Qudsia, Mori Gate, Tonga Stand, Civil Military drain shall be intercepted into the existing Ring Road trunk sewer which has recently been rehabilitated under Yamuna Action Plan-II. The sewage collected from these drains shall be pumped to Okhla STP through Ring Road SPS. Work on this plan shall be completed by June next year.Also, the capacity of the STP at the mouth of the Delhi Gate drain shall be augmented from existing 2.2 to 17.2 MGD by constructing an additional 15 MGD STP. The plant is likely to be commissioned by December next year.For the Barapulla drain, which presently carries 30 to 40 MGD untreated sewage, the DJB is looking at short-term, medium and long-term measures to trap the entire sewage in the Barapulla drain and carry it for treatment to the Okhla STP. Besides, four plants of 80 MGD capacity at Pappankalan, Nilothi, Delhi Gate and Yamuna Vihar are likely to be commissioned by December. Concurrently, to utilise all the STPs at their treated capacity, around 100 km of trunk sewer has been rehabilitated and the rehabilitation of peripheral sewer in a length of 168 kms is under process, which will take another 3 years.All the new STPs at Pappankalan, Nilothi, Delhi Gate, Chilla and Kapashera have been designed to achieve high standards of treated effluent. It is proposed to rehabilitate all the old STPs and improve the treatment standards up to tertiary levels under Yamuna Action Plan-III, which is under process of tender. The DJB is in the process of laying the sewerage system in unsewered area for which Sewerage Master Plan 2031 has been prepared. Till date, 541 out of total 567 unauthorised colonies, 129 out of 135 urban villages, 44 resettlement colonies out of 44, 34 out of 189 rural villages and 104 out of 1,639 unauthorised/regularised colonies have been provided with sewerage facility. The work of laying of sewerage system in 162 colonies is under progress and for another 142 tenders have been invited. The project was reviewed by lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung in a meeting on Tuesday, in which plans for holistic Yamuna development and efforts to fast-track activities pertaining to its development were deliberated upon.Mr Jung has taken up the matter with other stake holders in the project, and directed them that no efforts should be spared and the development of Yamuna must be a commitment on priority. Instructing the municipal corporations and the PWD to develop robust solid waste management so that no solid waste is dumped into smaller and bigger drains including river Yamuna, Mr Jung has directed regular de-silting of drains and dumping of solid waste at designated sanitary landfills.