Ghaziabad: Project revised for 7 untapped drains flowing in Hindon

Ghaziabad: A project for tapping of seven untapped drains flowing into and polluting river Hindon in Ghaziabad is being revised and would now require funds from the Centre’s Namami Gange Programme.

Officials of UP Jal Nigam, agency preparing a revised detailed project report (DPR), said that the initial DPR was of about ₹422 crore while the project as per revised DPR estimates may involve a cost of about ₹650 crore.

Overall, there are nine untapped drains flowing intor Hindon under the municipal corporation area namely -- the Karhera drain, Arthala drain, Kaila Bhatta drain, Nandgram drain, Hindon Vihar drain, city forest drain, Sarvodaya (Pratap Vihar) drain, Rahul Vihar drain, and Dasna drain.

Together, these drains have an untreated discharge of about 149.97MLD (million litres per day) which goes to river Hindon and adding to pollution.

Officials said that a project under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 scheme is already in place for tapping of two drains – Arthala and Karhera – along with construction of 68MLD capacity sewage treatment plant at Karhera in Sahibabad.

The two drains have a discharge of about 10.13MLD. The project has a completion timeline of June, 2026. Officials said that about 45% of work is complete, and the project covers 10 of the corporation’s residential wards.

This project will lay down 145km of sewer network and will cover 67,669 households which did not have provision of sewers.

The project was sanctioned in December, 2023.

“For the rest seven drains, a revised DPR for interception and diversion of drains, is being prepared, and it is likely to get complete soon. The revised DPR, being prepared by UP Jal Nigam, will be sent for approval and would require funds from the Namami Gange programme. The previous DPR which was put up for funds under AMRUT 2.0 could not go through due to issues,” said chief development officer Abhinav Gopal.

UP Jal Nigam officials said that the revised DPR for seven untapped drains also include construction of three STPs, with each having an estimated capacity of 50-60MLD. These STPs are proposed at Dundahera, at city forest, and Siddharth Vihar.

“We are expecting that the revised DPR will be completed in next 15-20 days. Once the funds are approved and work awarded, the project will require about one-and-half to two years to get complete. The revised DPR will also have cost escalation. The project is being prepared to prevent pollution to river Hindon and under directions given by the National Green Tribunal,” said UP Jal Nigam’s executive engineer (urban division) Arun Pratap Singh.

Officials said that the initial DPR for tapping of seven drains was prepared and funds were sought from AMRUT 2.0 scheme.

Since, the scheme requires a number of households to be benefitted, it could not go through, and a revised DPR is being prepared so that funds can be procured from the Namami Gange programme instead, officials said.

The initial DPR was for five years of maintenance while the revised DPR will have a maintenance for 15 years, hence an escalated cost, they added.

“The untapped drains have been flowing in river Hindon for years now and taking a heavy toll in terms of pollution. The ongoing projects will require several years to become fully operational. Apart from this, there is urgent need to devise a comprehensive plan for reviving the natural flow of the river,” said Sushil Raghav, a city-based environmentalist.