Purna Singh New Delhi

Delhihas launched a major infrastructure drive to tackle Yamuna pollution, strengthen water supply and overhaul its ageing sewerage network, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for 43 projects worth ₹8,941.22 crore on Thursday. The projects, announced at a Delhi government event in Shyam Vihar, comprise 10 completed projects worth ₹2,827.11 crore and 33 projects worth ₹6,114.11 crore that will now move into the implementation phase.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the initiatives would improve sewage management across the capital and reduce the flow of untreated wastewater into the Yamuna. The programme covers new water treatment facilities, upgrades to existing sewage treatment plants (STPs), decentralised wastewater treatment units, household sewer connections, pumping stations, rehabilitation of old pipelines and improvements to drainage infrastructure. The broader objective is to ensure that more wastewater is collected and treated before it reaches the river.

The projects inaugurated include a 477-million-litre-per-day (MLD) water treatment plant at Chandrawal, a two-million-gallon-per-day (MGD) water recycling plant at Bawana and a new 124-MGD sewage treatment plant at Okhla. Existing STPs at Rithala and Kondli have also been upgraded.

The projects receiving foundation stones include the modernisation of eight existing STPs, construction of 29 new smaller treatment plants, expansion of sewer networks, new sewage pumping stations and a 4.5-kilometre trunk drain connecting Mundka Halt Station to the Najafgarh Supplementary Drain.

A new water treatment plant with a capacity of 477 MLD has been completed at Chandrawal at a cost of ₹598.60 crore.