This story is from September 19, 2019

How these east Delhi residents are to blame for filth flowing into Yamuna

The big wrought iron gates and the numerous vehicles parked outside double-storey homes signify that West Jyoti Nagar is a well-to-do colony peopled by members of the middle and upper middle classes. It might not be very apparent right away, but this east Delhi colony is indirectly associated with the Yamuna’s pollution. The area was notified as being sewer-connected in 2014, but half a decade after the sewage lines were installed, only 11.5% of the houses have actually availed of the sewage services.
How these east Delhi residents are to blame for filth flowing into Yamuna
DJB reported that the sewer network has been extended from 255 unauthorised colonies in 2015 to 384 in 2019 and the work is in progress to further link 432 unauthorised colonies, covering a population of 21.6 lakh.
NEW DELHI: The big wrought iron gates and the numerous vehicles parked outside double-storey homes signify that West Jyoti Nagar is a well-to-do colony peopled by members of the middle and upper middle classes. It might not be very apparent right away, but this east Delhi colony is indirectly associated with the Yamuna’s pollution. The area was notified as being sewer-connected in 2014, but half a decade after the sewage lines were installed, only 11.5% of the houses have actually availed of the sewage services.
According to Delhi Jal Board’s report to the National Green Tribunal, there are 1,446 active water connections in West Jyoti Nagar, but only 167 sewer connections.
This means that the sewage flows into the storm-water drains and septic tanks and inevitably ends up in the Yamuna through the Gokalpuri drain.
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In West Jyoti Nagar, TOI found that most of the storm-water drains were indeed carrying sewage. A DJB official said that people had refused to avail of a connection. “If these residents had got illegal connections to the network, there would have been an increase in the sewage received at sewage treatment plants. But this is not the case, and so can only mean that sewage is flowing into storm water drains,” the official added.
Surender Garg, general secretary of West Jyoti Nagar RWA, disputed the DJB findings. “Some people had sewer connections before the new lines were laid 4-5 years ago and most got connected after that,” Garg said. While he did not specify the sort of connections people had before the sewers were laid, he could have been referring to use of storm-water drains for discharging sewage.
West Jyoti Nagar only stands out in this regard because of its relative affluence and the expectation that residents there would be aware of the benefits of connecting to a sewage system. The other colonies are no less indifferent. While almost the entire east Delhi can now access the sewage services, only 60% of the households are actually connected.

DJB reported that the sewer network has been extended from 255 unauthorised colonies in 2015 to 384 in 2019 and the work is in progress to further link 432 unauthorised colonies, covering a population of 21.6 lakh. “Even within the existing 951 kilometres of sewers, new lines were added,” the report said.
Another official said that DJB had recently made policy changes, including reducing the regularisation fee for illegal connections and easing the documentation required for a connection, to encourage consumers in unauthorised colonies to get linked to the official sewerage network. “People in unauthorised colonies can use electricity bills instead of property ownership as ownership proof,” he added.
While the residents of unauthorised colonies faced genuine technical problems, such as paperwork, in availing the sewage services, officials rued the lack of intent among dwellers of the more affluent areas which got on the sewer map years ago. They disclosed that DJB had requested the Union urban affairs ministry to approve of the water utility itself begin connecting houses to the sewer network. DJB vice-chairman Dinesh Mohaniya also said that NGT’s directives were being closely studied to chalk out an action plan.
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