Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday approved a project to lay sewer lines in two unauthorised colonies and a village in Bawana, according to an official statement.

The Rs 68-crore project will benefit 20,000 people in these areas, Sisodia said. Besides, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government will construct a decentralised sewage treatment plant (STP) of a capacity of 1 MLD (million litres a day) and a sewage pumping station of 3 MLD capacity, he added.

Sisodia also said free sewer connections will be provided to 4,824?households in Bawana under the Mukhyamantri Muft Sewer Connection Yojana. He instructed Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials to complete the work within the stipulated time. There are a total of 1,799 unauthorised colonies in Delhi. Of these, 725 have been connected to the sewer network, while the work is underway in 573 colonies.

Sewage from the unauthorised colonies not connected to the sewer network flows directly into the Yamuna. The Delhi government has promised to clean the Yamuna to bathing standards by February 2025.

The river can be considered fit for bathing if the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), the amount of oxygen required for microbial metabolism of organic compounds in waters, is less than three milligrams per litre and dissolved oxygen is greater than five milligrams per litre.