NOC issued for STP project after four years

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, April 11

After a delay of four years, the Forest Department of Uttar Pradesh has finally issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the construction of a pipeline for one of the main sewage treatment plants (STP).

According to officials of the Municipal Corporation (MC), Faridabad, the NOC was received on April 10, and the work on the construction of the 1800-mm diameter RCC (reinforced concrete cement) and 5.4-km long pipeline designated to carry the raw sewage to the STP at Mirzapur village had been pending since July 2019.

While around 5-km length of the pipeline falls under the jurisdiction of the MC and the FMDA, only 400-m length had been under the jurisdiction of the UP Forest Department. The pipeline is to be laid in the green belt alongside Agra Canal, passing through the city.

Although the cost of the pipeline project is over Rs 110 crore, an amount of Rs 78.8 crore has already been spent on the project. The authorities now propose to complete it by the end of August this year. “The delay in the NOC from the UP Forest Department has left the work of the construction of one of the major STPs hanging in balance,” said a senior MC official. The cost of the STP project is over Rs 219 crore, he added.

The STP project was launched under the central government’s AMRUT scheme in 2018 at Mirzapur village by the MC, and was scheduled to be completed by March 2021, but no progress has been made in the past three years. The project envisages laying the 5.4-km long sewage pipeline from Kheri Pul to Mirzapur village along Agra Canal, but due to the pending NOC, the work remains halted. The STP will be functional only after it is connected with the sewage pipeline, said an official.