NGT Directs: 9 years late: NGT criticises Djb for not taking 15 steps | Delhi News

New Delhi: Nine years have passed since the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to set up 32 sewage treatment plants (STPs) on major and minor sewers in the city, but only 17 have been constructed and no action has been taken for the remaining 15, the court observed.
NGT made this observation while listening to the appeals of residents’ welfare associations, including Nizamuddin West Union, demanding solutions or treatment of water in Barapullah and its subsidiary drains, including Kushak and Sunehripul. Residents claimed that many areas in south Delhi get flooded during monsoon as these drains are not de-silted.
Hitting out at the Jal Board for not complying with the 2015 tribunal order on STPs, NGT said that given its performance, it is difficult to believe the DJB’s fresh claim that it will be able to set up 40 decentralised sewage treatment plants (DSTPs) by December 2025.
DJB told NGT that since the current installed treatment capacity is 667 MGD against an estimated sewage generation of 792 MGD (80% of the 990 MGD water supply), the 2015 order of the tribunal was therefore complied with. “However, in the order passed by the tribunal on January 13, 2015, there was no such direction,” the bench headed by Justice Prakash Shrivastava said.
According to NGT, the estimate of 792 MGD of sewage generation in Delhi is based on wrong calculation. “Instead of calculating sewage generation based on population or per capita sewage generation, wrong basis of water supply has been taken by MCD, whereas it is undisputed that MCD is not the only source of water supply in Delhi. There are borewells, there are large number of cases of illegal extraction of water from borewells and there are other sources of water supply in Delhi as well. Therefore, the calculation given by MCD regarding sewage generation and its matching with installed capacity is incorrect and cannot be accepted,” NGT said.
In its affidavit dated September 3, DJB has prepared a table containing 56 DSTP locations divided into 40 locations. “By referring to this table, counsel for DJB has tried to show that 15 STPs are merged into 40 DSTPs, but the table does not reflect that,” NGT said.
The court said the table shows that none of the DSTPs have been constructed. “Most of the DSTPs are either at the estimation stage or at the revival or award stage. In respect of two DSTPs, even the land is not available. The completion date is indicated as December 31, 2025… It is difficult to believe that these DSTPs will be set up by December 2025,” the court said.
NGT has directed agencies to expedite the process desiltingand said the silt should not be retained by the drain as it flows into it during rain. “The authorities… are directed to take measures to transport it to the appropriate place,” the September 4 order, shared on Monday, said.