 "Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal")
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday said his government has started working on the rejuvenation of 26 lakes across the city with a total area of over 300 acres to improve water availability in the national capital.
The Delhi government has completed the rejuvenation of 35 water bodies. A total of 380 water bodies are to be brought back to life, he said during a visit to an artificial lake at Pappankalan.
"We will turn Delhi into a city of lakes, increase groundwater levels and supply drinking water to every household," Kejriwal said while detailing his government's vision of making the national capital self-sufficient in drinking water.
The groundwater table around Papankalan has risen by 6.25 metres due to the lake. Soon, 20 MGD (million gallons per day) of water drawn through tubewells will be supplied to households, he said.
The water will be purified through ROs and stored at underground reservoirs before supplying it to the residents, the chief minister said.
"While we have been trying to convince our neighbouring states to supply us more water, we are also doing our best to maximise Delhi's potential to produce water on its own."
He added the government is working on recharging groundwater levels and recycling water to make the state self-sufficient to an extent.
The Delhi government has come up with a process where it rejuvenates water bodies with treated water to recharge the water table.
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"We treat water to the best possible levels of purity, ie, 10:10 BOD:TSS and then pour it out into lakes. This water then percolates into the ground and recharges the water table," Kejriwal said.
The government has taken a step towards conserving and recharging groundwater by constructing two lakes within the premises of Pappankalan Sewage Treatment Plant Phase II.
These two lakes have a combined area of 11 acres and a holding capacity of 49 million gallons (MG). The treated effluent from the Phase-II sewage treatment plant, which has a biological oxygen demand (BOD) of less than 10 mg/L and conforms to the prescribed norms, is used to recharge the groundwater.
Kejriwal also said the Delhi government has started working on the rejuvenation of 26 lakes across the city, with a total area of over 300 acres.
Out of these lakes, 16 are artificial and the remaining pre-existing lakes have either dried up or got polluted over time. It is planned that 230 million gallons per day (MGD) of treated water from DJB STPs would be used to fill up these lakes.
In-situ treatment systems will be installed in all lakes to increase the dissolved oxygen levels above 5 mg/L, which is a crucial parameter for measuring the health of any waterbody, said a government statement.
The holding capacity of these lakes is estimated to be around 462 million gallons, and the government plans to install piezometers to measure the increase in groundwater levels. Comprehensive landscaping will also be carried out in all Delhi government-owned lakes, it said.
Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said Kejriwal takes stock of the lakes with all departments concerned every 15 days.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
