Yamuna clean-up plan follows Thames model

The Supreme Court today approved an action plan proposed by the central government for revival of the Yamuna river.

The plan is akin to the one used by the British government to clean up the river Thames in London.

The Supreme Court had been dealing with the problem of the river Yamuna's pollution since 1994 when a public interest litigation, mooted by the court itself, was filed following a news report on the condition of the river running through the national capital.

Solicitor General G E Vahanvati submitted the plan for the four-year project before a bench headed by Justice YK Sabharwal.

He said the plan was to set up sewage treatment plants (STPs) at all the points where major drains meet the river to ensure that no effluent were discharged into the river without treatment.

At present, all the civic and industrial waste is disgorged into the river from Haryana onwards. He further clarified that the new treatment plants would be in addition to those already functioning in the metropolis.

Vahanvati disclosed that 14 consortiums, including five foreign companies, with expertise in this field had responded to the scheme to clean the river.

Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and senior officials of the Delhi Jal Board would meet tomorrow to shortlist the consortiums on the basis of their experience, Vahanvati told the court.

A top-level expert committee will also be set up to monitor the implementation of the action plan which was filed by Urban Development Secretary Anil Baijal.

The committee will periodically review the progress of the programme. The court has also asked for status reports every quarter.

"The ongoing/proposed works relating to augmentation of the sewage treatment capacity, the desilting and rehabilitation of trunk sewers, sewering on unsewered colonies/villages and removal of slum clusters will have to be taken up in a timebound and synchronised manner," the government affidavit said.