Kanpur is a densely populated city in India, located on the west bank of the river Ganga, and famous for its leather industry. However, the city produces an estimated 450 million litres of municipal sewage and industrial effluents daily, a majority of which was flowing directly into the so-called “holy river” until recently.
Following the launch of the Namami Gange Programme that aims to clean and rejuvenate the Ganga, 13 out of 16 major drains in Kanpur have been completely tapped and the sewage and industrial effluents have been diverted to Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs).
The sewage has been diverted via pipelines to two sewage treatments plants (STPs) on the outskirts of the city at a rate of 80 million litres a day to Bhingawan STP and 60 million to Jajmau STP. The tapping of major drains in Kanpur is a big step forward in the bid to keep the river and its tributaries clean.
Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, director general of National Mission for Clean Ganga, said: "In Kanpur, there are two rivers – Ganga and Pandu. Six drains go to Pandu River and 16 rivers come to Ganga. On both sides, drains have been tapped. Now, we are left with three drains flowing into Ganga and three into Pandu."
"We have sanctioned new STP as part of one city, one operator concept. Whichever drains have not been tapped are part of that project. There is integrated planning so that drains flowing into either Pandu or Ganga rivers are all tapped. Major drains have already been tapped," he added.
Under the AMRUT Scheme, sewer infrastructure will be developed for houses located on the banks of Ganga by 2020 so that the household waste does not flow directly into the river.
