GHAZIABAD : The tertiary water treatment plant coming up in Indirapuram may miss its March deadline but is expected to be ready by June. The Rs 319.14-crore plant with a capacity to treat 4 million litres of water per day will reduce the dependency of the over 1,400 units in the Sahibabad industrial area on groundwater.
“The work on the tertiary water treatment plant is 27%complete. We had set March as the target for commissioning the plant but the workflow was impeded after Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) came into force. We are hoping that by June work on the plant will be over,” municipal commissioner Nitin Gaur said.
The work for the plant is being executed by a private firm, WABAG Group, on a hybrid annuity-based public-private partnership. Of the total 319.14-crore cost, Rs 169.14 crore is being borne by the firm and Rs 150 crore by the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation, Gaur said. The civic body, which raised the amount through bonds, has paid two instalments of Rs 18.75 crore each to the firm so far, he added.
The GMC will sell treated water to industries in Sahibabad industrial area and earn revenue. The civic has already signed an MoU with Sahibabad Industries Association under which the treated water will be supplied to them at the rate of Rs 45.9/kilolitre.
“There are over 1,400 industries in the industrial area and based on our survey the daily water demand of the industries is 36 MLD. The tertiary water treatment plant will have the capacity to treat 40 MLD of water, which is enough to cater to the needs of industries in the cluster,” Gaur said.
Currently, an 88-km water pipeline is being laid from the plant to the Sahibabad cluster to supply treated water.
“ An overhead tank of 2,800 kilolitre storage capacity is being constructed in Indirapuram. An underground water tank of40,000 kilolitre storage capacity is also being constructed in the Sahibabad area,” Anand Tripathi , general manager of GMC’s water works department, said.
Not just preserving groundwater, early commissioning of the plant is vital for GMC’s financial health. For the Rs 150-crorebonds raised for the project, GMC has to shell out over Rs 12crore annually in interest on the amount. Once operational, the civic body can generate Rs 18 lakh per day revenue by selling treated water to industries.
