UP Jal Nigam readies DPRs for projects worth Rs 2,167 crore

If the Centre approves the projects,it will bear 70 per cent of the cost while the rest would be borne by the UP Government. The money would be used for laying sewage lines,installation of new sewage treatment plants (STPs) and upgradation of existing STPs. The Centre has already approved a Rs 496 crore project for Varanasi and another Rs 305 crore one for Allahabad. “If the new proposal worth Rs 663 crore is also approved,the discharge of untreated sewage into Ganga river would be checked completely in Varanasi,” said a Jal Nigam official.

According to officials,about Rs 1,000 crore more would be required to control discharge of untreated sewage into the Ganga in Naini,Phaphamau and Jhunsi areas of Allahabad. To seek funds for that,the Jal Nigam is preparing a DPR.

On October 5,2009,the NGRBA had asked its member states — Uttar Pradesh,Bihar,Uttarakhand and West Bengal — to draft strategies for checking the discharge of untreated sewage into the Ganga. The Authority had taken up three UP towns — Allahabad,Kanpur and Varanasi — on a priority basis. “The DPR for projects worth Rs 403 crore for Kanpur has already been sent to the Centre. That is under evaluation and is expected to be approved by the end of July,” said Srivastava. He added that projects worth Rs 290 crore for Moradabad,Rs 44 crore for Gadhmukteshwar and Rs 51 crore for Kannauj are also pending with the Centre for approval. Varanasi generates 211 million litres of sewage daily but the only STP in the town has a capacity of 101.8 million litres. The Jal Nigam estimates that by 2030,the sewage discharge in Varanasi would be about 390 MLD.