(Planning for the future)
Revival of water bodies serving as recharge points
As part of the policy of decentralisation of wastewater treatment, DJB will revive 600 water bodies using treated water in the coming years as part of the City of Lakes initiative.
(Source: Times of India – Link)
- In March 2021, it was decided to float tenders for the revival of 150-200 water bodies.
- On 10th Sep 2021, Delhi Water Minister Satyendar Jain set a target of 200 water bodies and 22 key lakes to be revived by end-2023.
- When the project started in Sep 2018, Delhi government had cleared Rs 376 crore for an ambitious plan to revive 250 Water Bodies and 5 Mega Lakes using treated water. With time, there were more requests from local residents and legislators and, of the 1100 old water bodies existing in Delhi, 600 have been shortlisted.
- Around 155 lakes are currently being revived under different phases with a target completion date of Dec 2022.
- In Jan 2021, work was in progress for 46 water bodies. Water bodies at Tughlaqabad, Rani Khera and Sanjay Van were at an advanced stage as well as those in Ibrahimpur, Karala and Daulatpur.
The projects have got delayed (as reported by the National Green Tribunal Monitoring Committee) due to budgetary constraints and other restrictions due to Covid Lockdown, ban of construction activities and local resistance at some sites.
Key Lake Revival Projects
Sanjay Van Lake
Although this lake is under the jurisdiction of the DDA, CM Arvind Kejriwal approved funding from Delhi government budget for its rejuvenation in 2018.
This is situated at Mehrauli village and is one of the five lakes where the concept of floating wetland islands is being implemented, the others being at Rani Khera, Jaffarpur Kalan, Nangloi and Sonia Vihar.
(Source: Tweet by Raghav Chadha, DJB Vice-Chairperson)
The lake has a holding capacity of 129 MGD and spans about 6000 sq ft. Sanjay Van receives treated sewage from Vasant Kunj STP that has a capacity of 5 Million Gallons per Day (MGD)
The lake has been cleaned successfully and floating rafters have been deployed to enhance water quality using a unique combination of Floating Wetlands and Aeration technology. This innovative engineering solution for in-situ treatment was adopted in this case due to lack of space for building an STP.
This project will also raise the groundwater table.
Pappankalan Lake
Sector 16, Dwarka has a new waterbody of about 7 acre (28,000 sq mtr), the Pappankalan Lake, complete with wooded islands, built at a cost of Rs 198.35 lakhs.
Scientifically built within a period of about 6 months, it has a capacity of 57,000 cubic metre. Water is sourced from the Pappankalan sewage treatment plant next to the lake. Currently, 20 MGD water is fed into the lake.
Spread over more than 7 acres in Dwarka, the new lake was created from scratch by the DJB under the “City of Lakes” project.
This lake is scientifically designed to carry out high-rate recharging of groundwater. The ground water table has increased by at least 0.5 m.
(Source: Tweet by Satyendar Jain, Delhi Water Minister)
Tweet by AamAadmiParty
Sannoth lake at Bawana
The six-acre lake area in Bawana has many facilities for the public such as playing space for children, a stepped picnic garden, a walkway, Chhath Puja ghat and an open gym.
Around 3 MGD of recycled water from Bawana Common Effluent Treatment Plant will be used to rejuvenate the lake. The revival project will aid in groundwater recharge and create a sustainable ecosystem in the adjoining areas.
The water treatment capacity of the Ghoga natural STP will be increased from 10 lakh litres per day to 50 lakh litres per day and the recycled water will be used for groundwater recharge by creating the lake in the adjacent Bawana area. This improvised STP needs no continuous electricity supply to function.
The work was slated to be complete by the end of 2021.
Mughal Lake, Roshanara Bagh
A Mughal-era lake built by Shah Jahan’s daughter in Delhi comes back to life!
The process of setting up a sewage treatment plant of 6-7 million litres per day capacity and rejuvenation of a four-acre lake in Roshanara Bagh is under way. The treated water will be sufficient to fill the pond and irrigate the 57-acre garden.
The tender has already been finalised. NMDC has agreed to provide 500 square metres of space and given the NOC for carrying out the work.
In the action plans, the agencies are identifying the challenges or threats these water bodies face, such as solid waste dumping or flow of sewage into them.
Rajokri Lake
This lake that was revived by the Delhi government won the Jal Shakti Ministry Award. It was one of the first projects taken up by the Arvind Kejriwal government.
(Source: The New Indian Express – Link)
The lake was in a miserable condition till 2017 and was taken up by the DJB for rejuvenation. The area, spread over 9,446 square metres, has been transformed into a water body of 2,000 square metres.
For this project, a technologically advanced scientific wetland system with activated bio-digestion has been employed.
This has a capacity to naturally clear 600 kilolitres per day of sewage water with BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) levels of 150 ppm to less than 20 ppm.
(Source: Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission – Performance Report 2015-2019)
Rejuvenating Tikri Khurd Lake
“15 MGD of wastewater enters the Yamuna via drain number 6 from a neighbouring state. Delhi government is committed to cleaning the Yamuna river, hence we have trapped and started treating this wastewater in our Narela Sewage Treatment Plant. We will rejuvenate Tikri Khurd lake with this treated water which will help in increasing the ground-water levels of the area. This will set a nationwide example of converting waste into resources. ” – Satyendar Jain, Water Minister, 9th Dec 2021
(Source: Tweet1 and Tweet2 by Satyendar Jain)
Rejuvenation of the Najafgarh Drain through wetlands
On 9th Feb 2022, the Delhi Govt decided to rejuvenate the Najafgarh Drain through wetlands. Earlier, some of the lakes in the capital were transformed through this technique.
(Source: Tweet by DelhiGovDigital)
Sewage Water Remediation and Lake Development at Iradat Nagar
This ongoing project is expected to be completed by mid-2022. Aeration of pond, recharge, pathways, amphitheater, peripheral parallel roads, etc are planned for reviving and transforming the lake. Artist’s impression of the lake after rejuvenation:
(Source: Tweet by DaaruBaazMehta)
Natural treatment of wastewater
As of 23 Dec 2020, a 2.5 km ‘ringed’ wetland park made up of 11 constructed wetland ecosystems is being built on Yamuna flood plains.
These are natural ecosystems made using boulders, pebbles and plants to purify dirty water, which will help in releasing clean water into the Yamuna. The park is located along Kalindi Colony and fed sewage from Batla House, Zakir Nagar.
The first such ecosystem was inaugurated in Dec 2020. Water hyacinth was removed from the main waterbody while 25 other beneficial aquatic plants like Typha, Phragmites, Tamarix and Altananthra were either already growing in and around the wastewater or added to feed on the organic matter. Once all the water hyacinth is removed, visitors will be able to spot over a 100 bird species that had already started visiting the area.
A 7 ft high wall 5 km in length, is being built as protection along the flood plain area.
The aim is to restore these water bodies so that they can perform their ecological functions, including supporting biodiversity and recharging groundwater.
Transformation of a Lake!
(Source: Tweet by DaaruBaazMehta)
