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Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
City in disarray due to heavy rains: Eatala
Hyderabad: Malkajgiri MP and BJP leader Eatala Rajender said that despite Hyderabad being recognised as a world-class city, there were significant disparities in the city's development. Speaking to the media on Wednesday, he commented that the city was in disarray due to heavy rains. He mentioned that the drainage system was inadequate, causing the canals to overflow. He highlighted that low-lying areas were getting submerged due to floods, severely affecting the poor. "Despite setting up Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) with the goal of treating 100% of the wastewater in Hyderabad, they are not functioning properly," he stated. He noted that while double-bedroom houses were built for the poor in the city outskirts in the past, basic amenities have not been provided there, and demanded that these issues be addressed immediately. Eatala expressed his willingness to go anywhere and do whatever it takes to resolve the public issues.
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Health
- Indian Express
Yamuna clean-up op: Delhi govt to map drains, plug sewage leaks
As part of its plan to clean the Yamuna, the BJP Delhi government is planning to hire an agency to survey each drain that is not connected to the treatment system. Based on the findings, drains will be trapped to curb the flow of untreated water into the river, said officials. According to officials, the government is also planning to reach out to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to assess the output of wastewater being released from all Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in the future. Cleaning the Yamuna and making it pollution-free is one of the top priorities of the BJP government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have held meetings in this regard in the past two months. Officials said the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has asked to prepare a plan and hire an agency to identify gaps and disconnected drains and sewers and assess the sewerage zones. 'The department concerned has directed to hire an agency by the end of this month. The process has begun, and the survey will be completed by September… Based on the identified gaps, detailed project reports (DPRs) will be prepared by project engineers. Projects will be structured accordingly, and the estimated timeline for this is set for December this year,' said a senior official. The CPCB will also conduct inspections to identify operational gaps. 'All existing STPs and their outfalls will be inspected by the CPCB to assess operational shortcomings. For this, the timeline has been set for July 2025. Following its report, the DJB will formulate an action plan… The target for the work is set for October this year, ' said an official. Officials said over the last few years, the DJB has been working on the Interceptor Sewer Project — it entails trapping all drains and diverting wastewater to the nearby STP. However, there are some large drains like Najafgarh and Shahdara where it is not possible to tap them fully, due to which, eventually, untreated water enters the river. 'For such drains, solutions need to be considered, such as tapping 26 out of 182 sub-drains and treating the remaining at their outlets,' read a government document. Officials said 9 out of 22 drains that flow directly into the river have been trapped. Two drains have been partially trapped. Full trapping of drains is set to be completed by December 2027. 'Trapping work for two drains is in progress and is likely to be completed by the end of this year. Meanwhile, 7 drains have not yet been trapped, and no diversion has been made to the sewer/STP for treatment. The deadline to complete this work has been set for December 2027,' said an official. Under this project, the Delhi government also plans to install sewer connections in all unauthorised colonies. Recently, the central government approved Rs 804 crore for this project under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme 2.0. The government plans to install around 13,000 new sewer connections in slum areas, and 2.5 lakh sewer connections in unauthorised colonies and other residential areas.
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: ₹1.1k-cr project planned to tackle Buddha Nullah groundwater crisis
In a significant move to combat Punjab's severe groundwater depletion and rejuvenate the polluted Buddha Nullah, the soil conservation department has unveiled a ₹1,050-crore proposal to repurpose treated wastewater for agriculture and forestry. This initiative, inspired by recommendations from the vidhan sabha committee on Buddha Nullah and Ghaggar river, aims to lessen the strain on groundwater and mitigate environmental pollution. Nidhi Batta, divisional soil conservation officer, confirmed the detailed plan for transporting and reusing treated water from Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in the Lower Buddha Nullah for irrigation. Punjab, an agrarian state, faces alarming declines in groundwater levels and quality, with existing water conservation efforts proving insufficient. The government now seeks to utilize vast quantities of municipal wastewater, often discharged untreated, as a valuable resource. Reusing treated water can fulfill irrigation needs, generate revenue for maintenance, and significantly reduce pollution. Phased implementation for domestic and dairy waste water The proposal's primary component, 'Proposal A,' focuses on reusing 555 MLD (million litres per day) of domestic and dairy wastewater through a four-stage, ₹1,051.36-crore plan. Stage I involves using treated water from Sahnewal (7 MLD) and Jamalpur (25 MLD) STPs to irrigate 400 and 1,500 acres of farmland, respectively, costing ₹4.33 crore and ₹10.90 crore. Stage II, costing ₹276.30 crore, will see a major infrastructure upgrade to transport 206 MLD from Jamalpur STP to Balloke STP via a 14.5-km HDPE pipeline. Stage III, at ₹459.14 crore, entails moving 523 MLD from Balloke STP to Walipur village through a 17-km underground pipeline connecting to Lower Buddha Nullah. Finally, Stage IV, costing ₹300.69 crore, will establish 22 lift irrigation ponds along Lower Buddha Nullah to utilize treated water, aiding its revival and reducing pollution. Industrial wastewater and key challenges 'Proposal B' addresses the reuse of 165 MLD of industrial wastewater, estimated at ₹103.25 crore. Treated effluents from existing and proposed Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) will be transported for reuse across 2,300 acres of forest land in the Mattewara region. The combined cost of both proposals totals ₹1,154.61 crore. A significant challenge lies in the separate collection of domestic, dairy, and industrial wastewater, as illegal discharge of industrial effluents into domestic sewers disrupts treatment. Managing dairy waste, rich in solids, also requires attention, with a need for Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) plants by Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA). Officials stress that the project's success hinges on the active support of all stakeholder departments, emphasizing that proper infrastructure and treatment are crucial to realizing the full benefits of this substantial investment. The reuse of treated water is envisioned as a sustainable solution to Punjab's water crisis, reducing reliance on borewells and restoring Buddha Nullah's ecological balance.
Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Centre approves Rs 800 crore for Delhi Jal Board under AMRUT scheme
In a major financial boost, the Central government has recently approved Rs 800 crore for the Delhi Jal Board under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme to provide sewer connections in slums and unauthorised colonies across the city. A meeting was held earlier this month between the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials and the apex committee on the AMRUT scheme under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs where funds were approved under the Yamuna cleaning project. According to the proposal, around 13,000 new sewer connections in the slum areas will be provided under the AMRUT scheme for holistic improvement of the Yamuna river. 'The Union Territory (Delhi) was also advised to work holistically for Yamuna rejuvenation and sewerage management and to have a clear sludge processing strategy to work out its reuse,' an official document said. Currently, the DJB is unable to treat the entire amount of sewage generated by the city to increase its overall sewage treatment capacity by connecting all households to sewerage treatment infrastructure. In the first budget of the new BJP government, water and sewerage sector has been given one of the biggest shares of Rs of Rs 9,000 crore. Delhi Chief minister Rekha Gupta has allocated Rs 500 crore for repair of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in the budget, this covers the two projects. The DJB currently has 37 STPs and out of these 18 are under upgradation projects to increase the overall treatment capacity of sewerage treatment in the city, said officials. For the past few years, the DJB has been working on the Interceptor Sewer Project, which entails trapping all drains and diverting the wastewater flowing in them to the nearby STP. However, there are some drains where trapping is not possible like the Najafgarh drain, eventually the wastewater enters Yamuna. 'Through this fund we plan to increase our overall sewerage capacity in the next few years. For the past few years, the department has been trying to provide sewer connections in all areas so that there is no untreated sewage flowing openly in the drains and eventually landing in Yamuna,' said a DJB official. The Centre has also directed the DJB to come up with ways of proper and complete utlisation of treated wastewater for non-drinking purposes. The Jal Shakti Ministry has asked the board to carry out a party audit of all existing sewage treatment plants.
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
COVID cases rising again but nothing to be worried, says top scientist
COVID virus seems to have a made a comeback with cases being reported in different parts of the country, but scientists insist that there is nothing to be worried since those affected are only showing mild symptoms of low grade fever and cough while hospitalisations too have been less. 'Yes, we are seeing COVID wave in some parts of the country. It is also being reported in certain other Asian counties. It could be a variant of JN.1 which is already circulating among the population. But people may not have realised as most of them are asymptomatic and there are no major clinical symptoms', said noted scientist and director of Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) Rakesh Mishra. His institute has been closely monitoring the wastewater surveillance reports in Bengaluru (Karnataka) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), where a spike in COVID virus has been noticed from the samples taken from Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) since last week in these two cities. 'We have an agreement with the local municipal authorities in those two cities. We are studying the wastewater samples taken from open drains in Hyderabad since we do not have such a pact here. Most likely, people are shedding the COVID virus at the same level in the twin cities too,' said Dr. Mishra, a former Director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and who continues to supervise research scholars in his lab here. Although there is no uniform or coordinated environment surveillance for COVID across the country, he stresses the need to keep a close watch on the developments. 'Every few months, we are bound to have a spike in infections because the virus has become very infectious. Yet, it is always good to be cautious. We have to keep a watch on the severity of the symptoms lest we are caught unawares if there is a rush for hospitalisations due a more potent strain that could arise,' points out the top scientist. Citizens can take precautions like isolating or sporting a face mask when outside, especially, if one has COVID symptoms showing civic responsibility. Plus, it is always better to wear the face mask when in a crowd, added Dr. Mishra.
