Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari, presided over the signing of a tripartite Concession Agreement between National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), UP Jal Nigam and Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd. for developing an Integrated Sewage Infrastructure for Mathura on the Hybrid Annuity-based PPP mode, in New Delhi today. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, MoSfor Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Dr. Satya Pal Singh and MoS for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal were also present on the occasion.An agreementwas also signed between NMCG and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for the reuse of 2 crore litres per day of treated sewage water by IOCL’s refinery in Mathura, which has so far been using water from the over stressed Yamuna. The Mathura sewage project is special in three respects. This is the country’s first Integrated Sewage Infrastructure project based on One City – One-Operator concept, which means that the project integrates building of new STPs and maintenance of the existing infrastructure under one operator for the whole city.
Secondly, under this project the treated sewage water is going to be reused by IOCL , and thirdly, the project is based on Hybrid Annuity Mode, the third of this kind in this sector after the HAM based STPs being developed in Haridwar and Varanasi.The components of the Mathura project include construction, operation, and maintenance of a 30 MLD STP in Masani, the work for which has been awarded to the Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd. at an estimated cost of Rs. 437.95 crore on Hybrid Annuity Mode.Other components of the project include development and rehabilitation of Masani Sewerage Infrastructure, upgradation and rehabilitation of the existing Masani STP with a capacity of 6.8 MLD, upgradation and rehabilitation of two existing STPs (14.5 MLD and 16 MLD) in the Trans-Yamuna region of Mathura, leading to a total sewage treatment capacity of 67.3 MLD. A 20 MLD Tertiary Treatment Plant (TTP) will also be set up for the supply of treated wastewater to Mathura refinery of IOCL. The cost for the development and operation of the TTP for 15 years is Rs. 162.38 crore. IOCL will bear the entire operations and maintenance cost of the TTP amounting to Rs. 82.38 crore for a period of 15 years. Over and above this, IOCL will pay Rs. 8.70 per kilo litre towards the partial capital cost for the development of the TTP. This will save 2 crore litres per day in the water-stressed Yamuna river which was earlier being used by IOCL. This will also promote the market for recycle/reuse of treated waste water in India, which will further help in sustaining the operation of the infrastructure created, a need-of-the-hour in the sewage sector.Speaking on the occasion Shri Nitin Gadkari expressed happiness that his Ministry and IOCL had taken this important step forward in creation of wealth from waste. He said this step would not only help in abating pollution, but would also bolster the economy . He said that in another example of waste to wealth , Power Ministry is making it mandatory for the power plants along Ganga to use treated waste water. He also said that he is trying to get the Railways to use treated waste water to wash their wagons .
Dharmendra Pradhan said that "I am happy that Water Ministry and IOCL have collaborated for the cause of Ganga rejuvenation and I assure that all support will be extended from Petroleum Ministry and IOCL for future projects." Shri Pradhan also said that similar Waste-to-Wealth projects will be taken up in important towns along Ganga like Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Haridwar etc. Referring to how the Ganga Rejuvenation project can synergize with Skill Development, Shri Pradhan added that such projects will not only clean the river but will also create employment opportunities.Shri Gadkari reiterated his commitment to clean Ganga as also his priority for Yamuna and other tributaries for which many steps have been taken. Giving details of the projects on Yamuna and other tributaries he said that 14 projects are going on. These include 10 in Delhi, 2 in Uttar Pradesh and 2 in Haryana – at Sonipat and Panipat. In addition 20 new towns on Yamuna and its tributaries (Hindon and Kali) have been identified for pollution abatement. 8 of these towns are on Yamuna (Kalpi, Loni, Auriya, Kairana, Etawa, Bagpat, Tundla and Firozabad), 4 on Hindon (Saharanpur, Muazaffarnagar, Khora and Muradnagar) and 6 on Kali river (Meerut, Hapur, Deoband, Modinagar, Budhana and Autrauli). He said that six sewerage management projects in Delhi have been awarded and two are under tendering for Yamuna.He also added: "It is my vision to develop a world class ecological and environment friendly River Front park on 35km stretch of river Yamuna in Delhi."The Minister also extended his satisfaction at the performance of the STP at Sisamau drain in Kanpur which is one of the biggest sources of pollution of Ganga. Shri Gadkarisaid that 140 MLD of waste water was flowing into Ganga from this drain out of which 80 MLD has been tapped and it is being diverted to STPs for treatment. Very soon the remaining 60 MLD untreated water will also be tapped and no sewage water from Sisamau drain will go into river Ganga. He also mentioned that one STP for Ayodhya has been sanctioned and we have begun the process of cleaning river Saryu.
Referring to the industrial pollution, Minister said that strict action will be taken against anyone who is polluting Ganga and its tributaries.The Hybrid Annuity model marks a paradigm shift in the sewerage sector. An important feature of HAM is that both the Annuity and Operation and Maintenance payments are linked to the performance of the STP, which was not the case earlier when the projects were implemented under EPC or DBOT mode. This would ensure continued performance of the sewage infrastructure assets created due to better accountability, ownership and optimal performance. More sewage treatment projects under Hybrid Annuity mode (HAM) are to be awarded soon. The upcoming projects which are at various levels of implementation under HAM are STPs at Naini, Jhusi, and Phaphamau at Allahabad (72 MLD), STPs at Unnao, Shuklaganj, and Bithoor along with Kanpur (21.4 MLD), STPs at Digha and Kankarbagh in Bihar (150), STPs at Kolkata and Howrah (141 MLD) STPs at Farukhabad (30 MLD), STP at Bhagalpur (65 MLD). In a bid to use the extensive Yes Bank network across India, Namami Gange has partnered with Yes Bank for display of Clean Ganga messages on their ATMs and branches. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative by NMCG to have partnered with the banking set-up to reach out to people at large through the bank’s extensive reach to engage them in the Clean Ganga Mission. Yes Bank has more than 1,700 ATMs across the country and a good number of them are in the Ganga basin. Country-wide, Yes Bank has 40 branches on which Namami Gange messages will be displayed through an arch on the main entry of the each branch.The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) had organized a photo contest on social media platforms during the ‘Ganga Swachhta Pakhwada’ 2018 which was observed from 16th March to 31st March 2018. On social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, more than 1900 entries were received from across the country. Some of the entries were of a very high quality and depicted various facets of the Ganga. Shri Gadkari felicitated the winners of the contest who are from various walks of life and different parts of the country.