Delhi announces scheme for cleaning septic tanks
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his government would soon launch a new scheme under which residents of unauthorised colonies, especially those that do not have sewer networks, would be able to call the Delhi Jal Board and get their septic tanks cleaned for free.
The announcement comes at a time when the central government is gearing up to confer ownership and transfer rights over properties in 1,728 unauthorised colonies, which had been a poll plank for political parties for years. The central government has kept 69 identified unauthorised colonies in the city out of its plans for the time being.
Under the scheme – Mukhyamantri Septic Tank Safai Yojana – the government will launch helplines that will allow residents of unauthorised colonies to seek appointment for septic tank cleaning in time-slots that are convenient to them, the chief minister said. He said the initiative would help 4.5 million people in unauthorised colonies.
He said the scheme was a major move towards ensuring a clean Yamuna and security of sanitation workers who are often roped in for such jobs that involve high risk. Septic tanks are mostly cleaned through “unlicensed” contractors and have claimed several lives in the past few years, Kejriwal said.
According to government records, 430 unauthorised colonies in Delhi have functional sewer networks and work is in progress in as many as 400 of them. The biggest project is under way in Kirari with 450 kms of sewer network. Others have no sewer lines at present, senior Delhi Jal Board officials said.
“Under this scheme, the Delhi Jal Board and the Delhi government will undertake the task of cleaning all septic tanks across the capital free of cost. We will try to pass the tenders of the same within the next month. The Delhi Jal Board will deploy 80 trucks, along with trained staff, to ensure the cleaning and maintenance of the septic tanks across Delhi,” Kejriwal said.
The CM said, “The initiative has three objectives that include collecting the waste from the septic tanks from the colonies, ensuring safe disposal of the waste in the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) of the government, and deploy trained staff with all the safety equipment for the work of septic tank cleaning.”