Defence hurdle stalls Kapashera STP work

Air Force authorities feel that the “foul smell” will have an “adverse effect on the proposed residential colony”.

Officials said 25 per cent of civil construction on the plant is complete. But the work has been moving at a snail’s pace ever since the issue cropped up.

Stressing on the need of an STP in the area and to resolve the impasse,Chief Secretary P K Tripathi wrote to Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma on December 19 (Newsline has a copy),after a meeting with senior Air Force and DJB officers on November 21.

“Air Force officers raised the issue of exchanging land with DJB at some other location and difficulties in change of land use and consequent delay. Neither at the time of allotment of land to DJB by DDA nor at the time of construction,the question of NOC from MoD was raised… Now,this fact has come to notice and as the construction of STP is at an advance stage,in compliance with the directions of Hon’ble High Court,I would be grateful if the requisite NOC is granted by MoD to DJB and construction of plant is allowed in the larger public interest,” Tripathi wrote in his letter to the Defence Secretary.

DJB’s Member (Finance) told Newsline that the Air Force officers have already visited other DJB sites in Vasant Kunj and Okhla,“but no new communication regarding the NOC has been received from the Ministry yet”.

Work on the project has been stopped for now. The fresh deadline set by DJB is June,2012.

“We are adopting latest technology for reducing odour to the maximum extent possible. We shall also undertake plantation of odour mitigation plants along the boundary wall,” DJB CEO Ramesh Negi said.

Sewage pipelines have already been laid around six villages surrounding the airport — Mehram Nagar,Mahipalpur,Samal Khan,Shahbad Mohammadpur,Bijwasan and Kapashera — to collect sewage and transport it to the Kapashera STP.