Delhi Jal Board approves Rs 90-cr project to supply treated water for horticulture use

New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has approved a Rs 90-crore project to transport treated water from sewage treatment plants (STPs) for horticultural purposes across the national capital, Water Minister Parvesh Verma has said.

Verma, who chaired the DJB's board meeting where the project was cleared, said pipelines will be laid to supply treated water to large green areas, including parks and central verges along roads.

"Our aim is to utilise all the treated water generated from the STPs for horticulture and irrigation purposes, so a project has been approved to lay down pipelines to supply treated water to large parks, central verges on roads and other such usage," Verma said.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Public Works Department will be working on the project together, he added.

According to officials, currently the DJB has 37 STPs, of these, 18 are under upgradation to increase the overall treatment capacity of sewage treatment in the city. The DJB has a sewage treatment capacity of around 600 million gallons per day (MGD) across all existing STPs against the estimated generation of 792 MGD.

"The treated water will be supplied to areas where there is a requirement, like DDA parks and PWD roads and other concerned departments can also get the water. We have seen in some parts there are issues of lack of water supply, this will solve that. We are identifying 90 such locations across the city where these pipelines can be laid," the minister said.

The DJB has initiated a Sewerage Improvement Scheme (SIS), a master plan to revamp the sewerage infrastructure in the city.

After the upgrade, the STPs will be able to discharge treated water as per the standards set by the government and increase the treatment capacity also, officials said.

"Under STP upgradation work DJB is also improving the quality of water discharged bringing it up to 10 biochemical oxygen demand level (BOD), which is the prescribed limit. Which can be used for horticulture purposes," the minister said.

The board is also working on the projects to add the treated water back into the Yamuna river to improve the river's water quality. PTI SSM VN VN