The Noida authority has decided to set up multiple sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the drains to treat wastewater that empties into the Yamuna. The step aims to ensure that only treated wastewater is dumped into the city drains connected to the Yamuna, said officials on Sunday.
The Authority, in its 221st board meeting on Saturday, approved a proposal to commence work on this ambitious project that will make Noida a “zero discharge city” that dumps zero untreated wastewater into soil or drains.
Currently, Noida has eight STPs, located in sectors 50, 54, 123 % 168, having a capacity to treat 210 million litres per day (mld) of wastewater. These STPs trap, treat & empty treated wastewater into stormwater drains. However, the stormwater drains, meant to channelise only rainwater, have a huge flow of untreated sewer coming from neighbouring areas’ unauthorised localities, said officials.
“The Authority’s board has approved the proposal that finds a solution to this issue. The board has allowed us to issue a tender to finalise an expert agency that will work on this project. Our aim is that we empty only treated wastewater into drains once we set up STPs on city drains,” said Lokesh M, chief executive officer (Noida authority). The Authority will issue an expression of interest (EOI) inviting proposals from expert agencies, likely any time this month. The Authority aims to set up sewage treatment plants at the city’s key drains to ensure no untreated wastewater is emptied into the Yamuna.
The board approved this proposal after the national green tribunal (NGT) on August 3, 2022, directed the Authority not to dump untreated waste into the drains, which are finally emptied into the Yamuna. The NGT had also slapped a INR 100 crore penalty against the Authority for river pollution. The Authority challenged the NGT’s order in the Supreme Court, which gave relief from penalty and will next hear this case on January 21, 2026.
The Noida authority, in a survey (2024-25), established that there are at least 30 drains in Noida connected with the irrigation drain that begins from Delhi’s Ashok Nagar and merges with the Yamuna at Sector 168. A survey conducted by the National Environment Engineering Research Institute suggested that at least 11 sewage treatment plants need to be built so that the wastewater can be treated.
The authority will take at least two years to build these five STPs, said officials. “These 11 drains have wastewater from adjoining villages and other areas, and a major concern because we cannot dump the untreated wastewater into the Yamuna. So once STPs are built, Noida will become a city that dumps zero quantity of wastewater,” said RP Singh.
