One of the most populous cities of Uttar Pradesh, Agra is situated on the banks of River Yamuna. It is located at 378 KM from Lucknow and 58 KM from Mathura. The existing infrastructure facilities in the city of Agra vis-à-vis population catered, both resident and floating, are lower than required for sustainable development of this city.
Status of existing Infrastructure for Wastewater treatment at Agra:
Reasons behind increasing pollution level in the river Yamuna is inadequate availability of sewerage management system in different parts of the city. Discharge of wastewater into river Yamuna through open drains is a common malpractice. Interception and Diversion (I&D) works have been proposed to divert the untreated wastewater from discharging into the river. Balance discharge from drains is proposed to be tapped and wastewater to be diverted to exiting/proposed STPs for treatment through pumping station/gravity flow. In this course of action, existing STPs to be utilized at the time of implementation of sewerage system of other phases. Sewerage System in Agra was first introduced in 1917. Afterwards, it was stretched to cater developing areas of the city based on the demands of citizens subject to the financial constraints of the urban local body. Under Yamuna Action Plan (YAP), some important measures were taken to control the water pollution and improve the water quality of the river. A study was conducted with the special assistance of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), to
formulate YAP project covering the States of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.
YAP-1- was institutionalised in the year 1995 for intercepting the existing sewage water, generated from 15 towns, including Agra, situated in the basin of river Yamuna. It helped partially to improve the quality of water in river Yamuna. As that project was unable to address the bacterial pollution in the river due to absence of coliform standards for the treated effluent, it hasn't achieved the desired success.
The Agra Municipal Corporation divided the city into nine sewerage zones namely,
(1) Central Zone
(2) Cantonment Area
(3) Eastern Zone
(4) Northern Zone
(5) Southern Zone-I
(6) Southern Zone-II
(7) Southern Zone-III
(8) Tajganj Zone
(9) Western Zone
The below diagram shows the clear demarcation of boundaries within the adjacent zone -
To facilitate its mission in Uttar Pradesh, NMCG has proposed the development of three STPs in Agra to treat the sewage, received from in three sewerage zones of the city. NMCG also integrated the existing assets including STPs and pumping stations in the remaining sewerage zones to enable effective monitoring and treatment of sewage in the city. The proposed project will be funded completely by the Central Government through the Namami Gange Programme and it will be implemented and monitored by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam (UPJN).
NMCG has approved the proposal of new Sewage Treatment Plants in the following locations:
Package I-Northern & Taj Ganj Zone
Package II- Eastern Zone
Package III-Dhandhupura (New)
Proposed Project Activities
Under Namami Gange Program, following works are proposed under I&D Sewerage Scheme of Agra:
a. I&D Works of 23 drains are proposed and the wastewater shall be carried to Decentralized STPs for treatment through pumping / Gravity flow.
b. Sewer Line work from tapped drain to DSTPs - total length 2550 meter
c. Rising Main work of 9.35 km
d. Construction of Sewage Pumping Station 3 Nos. at MPS Burhi ka Nagla (Northern Zone), MPS Peelakhar (Eastern Zone), Additional MPS at Khairati Tola (Central zone)
e. In order to tap the major drains and treating it at available nearby space, construction of 10 decentralized STPs have been proposed.
f. Construction of 3 centralized STPs has also been proposed to cater the other catchment area which includes 31 MLD STP with MPS at Jaganpura, 35 MLD STP with MPS at Peelakhar and 100 MLD STP with MPS at Dhandupura, Agra.
