Planning and Design of Sewerage Infrastructure for a Congested Area in Delhi: A Case Study Towards Pollution Abatement in River Yamuna

Delhi, the capital city of India, has undertaken remarkable initiatives to restructure and develop Delhi’s sewerage infrastructure. Sewerage services have been under a severe strain due to explosive and unplanned population growth. Initiatives for sewerage infrastructure development have been undertaken including a sewerage master plan (SMP) for design year 2031. This paper presents a case study for a sub-zone of one of the twelve (12) sewerage zones–the Yamuna Vihar sub-zone–the most congested area of Delhi. The area is partially sewered, the present sewers are inefficient, and the existing sewage treatment plant is under-utilized due to non-connectivity of the sewerage system. The result is overflow of untreated sewage to natural water bodies ultimately polluting River Yamuna. The SMP pipelines scheme integrates existing and planned sewers/pumping stations/sewage treatment plants based on the optimum techno-economical solution. Various construction methodologies were considered for laying sewers due to high congestion and restricted right of ways. Part of the scheme has been successfully implemented, reducing the pollution load to River Yamuna.