Several Steps Have been Taken to Ensure Both Nirmalta and Aviralta of the River
Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari today presided over the ceremony of signing of concession agreement for sewage treatment infrastructure in Kanpur under One-City-One-Operator concept and Hybrid Annuity Mode between National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), UP Jal Nigam and the private concessionaire – consortium of M/S Shapoorji Pallonji and Company limited & SSG Infratech Limited.
Addressing the gathering,Gadkari said that the dream of clean Ganga is now within reach as positive changes are visible on the ground as a result of the steps taken towards cleaning the river.
Shri Gadkari said that a total of 73 projects have been sanctioned in Uttar Pradesh under Namami Gange at an estimated cost of Rs. 9,934 crores,,. Out of which, 13 projects are complete and others are at various stages of implementation.
Congratulating the Ministry and NMCG for their work, Shri Gadkari said that the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) is a success story in this sector. Six projects (Haridwar, Varanasi, Mathura and Kanpur, Allahabad and Farrukhabad) have been awarded under this model and many other projects are at various stages of execution. He added that robust monitoring is being done for the projects.
Shri Gadkari further said that the One-City-One-Operator concept where a single operator is made responsible for the entire sewage infrastructure of a city including the O&M, will ensure single point accountability, desired performance, and long term sustenance. The Minister also emphasized emphasized on the importance of reuse of treated water and said that in Mathura, Indian Oil is buying the treated water from the STP as per a recently signed agreement. NMCG is trying to work this out for other projects also.
Talking about ensuring the Aviralta of River Ganga, the Minister said a notification has already been issued in October this year in this regard, and he was confident that a minimum flow will be maintained in the river in the coming lean season.
Underlining the importance of cleaning the tributaries of Ganga, Shri Gadkari said that 11 projects are being taken up in the National Capital for River Yamuna. Besides, projects are being taken up on other tributaries of Ganga as well under the Namami Gange programme.
The Minister also added that people’s participation is very important for Clean Ganga Mission, and called upon the media to generate awareness in this regard.
Kanpur projects for which the agreement was signed include the development of 3 new STPs at Unnao (1.3 Crore litres per day), Shuklaganj (0.5 Crore litres per day) and Pankha (3 Crore litres per day), rehabilitation of the existing sewage treatment infrastructure with capacity of 45.7 Crore litres per day, and Operation and Maintenance of all assets for 15 years under Hybrid Annuity based PPP mode. The work has already been awarded to the consortium of M/S ShapoorjiPallonji and Company Limited & SSG Infratech Limited at a cost of Rs 816 Crore. 401 kms of sewerage network in sewage district I of Kanpur with 10 years of Operation and Maintenance at a cost of Rs 370.40 Crores are under construction and will be completed by July 2020. In Bithoor, a project to treat 0.2 Crores litres per day through constructed wetland technology has been taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 13.40 Crores and work will be completed in December 2019.
Kanpur City has a current sewage generation of about 37.5 crores litres per day and this is expected to increase to 46 crores litres per day in 2035 as per the population growth. The existing treatment capacity from 6 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) is 45.7 Crore litres per day. Unnao, Shulaganj and Bithoor generate about 18.3 Crores litres per day of sewage.
In a significant step taken to address the challenge of industrial pollution in Kanpur, a 20 MLD Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) at Jajmau project at an estimated cost of Rs. 554 Crore (Phase-I) is under tendering and the work would start soon for treatment of sewage generated by Tannery industrial cluster which exist in Jajmau (380 units). Apart from this, ghat cleaning projects worth of Rs. 6.07 crores have been sanctioned for regular cleaning of all the ghats at Bithoor & Kanpur, a trash skimmer is deployed for the removal of floating trash from the river surface at Kanpur for 3 years at an estimated cost of Rs. 2.5 crore and construction/modernization of 24 Ghats and 3 Crematoria including provision for public amenities have been taken up in Kanpur & Bithoor at a cost of Rs. 47.39 crore.
A major achievement in Kanpur city has been the diversion of waste water from Sisamau drain. This drain has been a sewerage conveyance channel since 1890s. This drain has a network of multiple tributary drains with total length of approximately 13 km and discharges nearly 14 Crores litres per day of untreated sewage into river Ganga. Under Namami Gange, NMCG has approved a project worth Rs 63.80 crores in 2016 for diverting the sewage from this drain along with other 5 drains – Permiya, Guptarghat, Dabka, Nawabganj and Muirmill to the Bingawan and Jajmau STP for treatment.
The Sisamau drain has been diverted in two stages which are interception of Sisamau drain at Bakar Mandi and its diversion, under gravity, to Rakhi Mandi Pumping Station and eventually to Bingawan STP. Work was completed in June 2018 and 8 Crores Litres per day sewage has been diverted to Bigawan STP for treatment. In stage 2, interception of the Sisamau Nala at VIP Road and diversion to Jajmau STP through a newly created pumping station (RSPH Pumping Station) has been done. This diversion work has been completed in November 2018 and 6 Crores Litres per day sewage has been diverted to Jajmau STP for treatment.
Among the other 5 drains to be intercepted as part of the project, work on 3 drains namely Dabka, Nawabganj and Muirmill has been completed while work on other two drains namely Permiya & Guptarghat drains will be completed by December 2018.
Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Arjun Ram Meghwal, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri U.P. Singh, Chairman, Central Water Commission Shri S. Masood Hussain and Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, were also present on the occasion.
