Delhi Minister orders strict action against illegal units polluting Yamuna

New Delhi, April 20 (IANS) Ordering strict action against polluting and illegal industries, Delhi Minister for Water, Irrigation and Flood Control, Parvesh Verma, said on Sunday that the city government will work in close coordination with Haryana to ensure that untreated water does not flow into the Yamuna River.

After an inspection of the 318 million litres a day (MLD) Coronation Pillar Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Model Town, Minister Verma said he is inspecting all STPs one by one to confirm that they are working to their capacity and maintaining the COD (chemical oxygen demand) and the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) levels.

“Our Yamuna will become clean if we manage to trap the entire untreated water,” he said.

Verma said, “We saw sewage and industrial waste coming from Haryana. I will ask Delhi CM to meet Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, along with officials, to ensure that they trap the waste coming from their territory by setting up STPs there itself.”

Ordering strict action against polluting industries, Verma said, “We will be acting against unauthorised industries, whether in Delhi or in Haryana."

The COD level, inspected by Verma on Sunday at Coronation Pillar STP, is a measure of the amount of oxygen required to chemically oxidise all oxidisable organic and inorganic matter in a water sample. BOD is a measure of how much oxygen is consumed by microorganisms while breaking down organic matter in water. Essentially, it quantifies the amount of oxygen required to decompose organic pollutants in a water sample.

The Coronation Pillar plant was built in 2023 for treating 318 (MLD) sewage a day, while reducing annual carbon emissions by about 14,450 tonnes.

An official said the five-pronged environmental and social sustainability of the project is reflected in sewage treatment, carbon emission reduction, material wastage minimisation, along with the generation of biogas power. The remaining two dimensions focus on manhours and land saving.

The STP aims to serve a population of 30 lakh by adhering to National Green Tribunal guidelines for sewage treatment and subsequent release into the Yamuna. Additionally, on-site biogas power generation of 70 MW/day is implemented to decrease the Sewage Treatment Plant's dependence on the power grid.

--IANS

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