Wastewater treatment plant at Delhi’s Okhla now fully operational
In a major milestone towards cleaning the Yamuna and making Delhi’s drains sewer-free, the Capital’s largest and most-advanced wastewater treatment plant at Okhla is now fully operational.
Delhi’s Public Works Department (PWD) and Water Minister Parvesh Verma visited the facility on Wednesday to review its operations.
Built with Central Government support, the 564 million litre per day (MLD) capacity plant is now Asia’s largest single-stage wastewater treatment plant. It is equipped with state-of-the-art systems to treat sewage as per international standards and will serve nearly four million residents across Old Delhi, Central Delhi, NDMC areas and South Delhi.
The plant employs advanced technologies such as activated sludge process (ASP), tertiary disc filtration and ultraviolet disinfection to deliver high-quality effluent with biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) levels of 10 mg/l or less. Operated via a fully automated SCADA-based system, the facility ensures remote and real-time monitoring.
A significant aspect of the plant’s environmental contribution is its ability to generate 4.8 MW of green energy using biogas extracted from sludge. This energy meets nearly 50 per cent of the facility’s total power requirement. Additionally, the plant produces India’s first Class-A quality sludge — odourless, pathogen-free and usable as organic fertiliser or soil conditioner.
Highlighting its broader environmental impact, officials said the plant adds around 30 MGD of treatment capacity to the Okhla catchment. Crucially, it will also handle 35 MGD of untreated sewage currently flowing into the Yamuna via Barapullah and Maharani Bagh drains, thereby significantly reducing pollution in the river.
The treated water is currently being discharged into the Old Agra Canal. However, work is underway to divert this cleaner water directly into the Yamuna downstream of the Okhla Barrage via Abul Fazal drain. Since June 2024, around 40 MLD of the treated water has also been repurposed for horticultural use across various parts of the city.
Speaking at the site, PWD Minister Parvesh Verma said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are taking decisive steps to make the Yamuna clean through world-class water treatment systems. Our mission is to transform Delhi into a clean, sustainable and responsible Capital.”
The initiative forms part of the broader ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision, aimed at building a developed, self-reliant India. It strengthens urban water management and marks a big step forward in Delhi’s environmental sustainability and pollution control efforts.
Delhi