In a major push to clean the Yamuna and strengthen Delhi’s wastewater management system, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Monday inspected the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) in Okhla and reviewed measures to ensure pollution-free discharge into the river.
The inspection was carried out under the leadership of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta as part of the Delhi Government’s wider Yamuna rejuvenation drive. Senior officials accompanied the minister during the visit.
Sirsa reviewed key operational aspects of the CETPs, including Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, treatment flow capacity and the overall efficiency of the systems. The Okhla CETPs currently have a treatment capacity of over 24 MLD (million litres per day).
Addressing officials, the minister said, “We are actively working on decentralising STPs and CETPs wherever feasible, building new facilities where required and upgrading existing infrastructure wherever necessary. A comprehensive effort is underway to ensure clean water flows into the Yamuna.”
Highlighting the need for urgent modernisation, Sirsa said many CETPs in Delhi still operate on technology that is nearly two decades old and require major upgrades to meet present-day environmental challenges.
The minister also criticised previous governments over delays in CETP modernisation. He said, “Over the past 25 years, previous governments made several promises regarding CETP upgradation, yet no substantial work was carried out on the ground. Under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta, our government is focused on upgrading these systems, improving monitoring and ensuring efficient operations so that the water discharged into the Yamuna is fully treated and clean.”
Sirsa said industrial waste remains one of the major contributors to Yamuna pollution and stressed that CETPs play a key role in intercepting and treating industrial discharge before it reaches the river.
He added that the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute is conducting a detailed technology survey to improve the efficiency and performance of the CETPs. “It is only when the CETPs function efficiently that the Yamuna will truly receive a new lease of life,” the minister said. As part of its larger Yamuna clean-up mission, the Delhi Government has sanctioned projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore. These include the construction of 12 new Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), the upgradation of the Keshopur STP, rehabilitation of trunk sewer networks and large-scale rainwater harvesting projects aimed at improving Delhi’s sewage treatment and water management infrastructure.
