NEW DELHI: Delhi is home to a total of 13 common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) which have a combined capacity to treat 213 million litres per day (MLD) of industrial effluents. However, during a meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), these 13 CETPs are operating at only 20-22 per cent of their total capacity. In other words, only 45 MLD of effluents are being treated and released into drains that later join River Yamuna.
In addition to this, only 11 out of the 13 CETPs were monitored in July this year and seven out of them were found to be non-complying. This means that the seven CETPs discharged treated effluents into the
river were not meeting the prescribed standards.
The issue was discussed in August in a meeting of a Central Monitoring Committee that was set up by the National Green Tribunal to monitor 351 polluted river stretches in the country, including the Yamuna. During the meeting, Technical Director of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) also informed the committee that there were 11 industrial clusters in Delhi which did not have any CETPs installed. The findings from Delhi and numerous other states were submitted to the NGT in the second
quarterly report of the committee.
According to an official from the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), the CETPs were functioning below their full capacity because the industrial clusters they are located in were producing relatively less wet waste than before. He added that the 11 clusters that are not connected to CETPs produce very low level of effluents.