NGT panel censures DJB for missing project deadlines

The NGT-appointed Yamuna Monitoring Committee has rapped the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for missing several deadlines for commissioning of the Intercepter Sewer Project and new sewer treatment plants which will help reduce pollution in the river.

The two-member committee, comprising retired National Green Tribunal expert member B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra, at a recent meeting with DJB officials, said the target date for the completion of the Intercepter Sewer Project (ISP) had been revised several times.

The ISP aims to trap sewage from smaller drains that fall into the three main drains of the city, which, in turn, flow into the Yamuna.

 

"There is no sanctity to the timelines given which have been altered repeatedly with no sense of responsibility. The DJB must give convincing reasons for the delay," the panel said.

It has also asked R S Tyagi, former expert member (drainage), DJB, and Delhi Technological University to conduct an independent technical audit of the project to assess the progress achieved so far and work that remains to be done.

Apart from 108 drains covered under the ISP, the DJB has no plans trap the sewage from another 204 smaller drains, the NGT panel said.

The DJB informed the panel that the Coronation Pillar sewage treatment plant (STP), which has the capacity to treat 70 million gallons of sewage per day, will be fully commissioned only by March 2020.

To this, the monitoring committee said, "The target date for the commissioning of the project, as per a second interim report submitted to the NGT, is December 2019 and the DJB should adhere to it."

With regards to upgrading the existing STPs at Kondli, Okhla and Rithala, the panel said it is considering ordering an "independent technical audit of the work completed so far and whether the timelines will be met".

On the 14 new decentralised STPs proposed in the Najafgarh area, it "noted with regret the complete unprofessional manner in which the entire issue has been handled by the DJB resulting in zero progress" in the last four years.

The panel has also asked the utility to prepare a well-thought-out and reasoned roadmap to improve the quality of Yamuna water and submit it at the earliest.