Why Nagpur’s Water Management is a good model according driven by Arun Lakhani

Every family has a tap and a meter irrespective of whether it is a slum, a flat or a bungalow. There is accountability for every drop of water supplied the first time,” says Arun Lakhani, chairman and managing director, Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd (VIL India), which was put into effect the Nagpur Orange City Water Project. The goal of the project was to address problems of water that was being exhausted and not getting billed. The city was supplying 575 million litres per day (mld) of treated water of which only 175 mld was getting billed and paid for. Most meters were either non-existent or non functional. Also, the city was receiving water supply for eight to 10 hours or on alternate days. The tanker mafia added to the problem. On the sewage side, the city was generating 550 mld of sewage and had the capacity to treat only 100 mld. The remaining untreated sewage was polluting water bodies that supplied water to the city. For this project, the private company invested 30% of the estimated project cost, 70% grants came from the JNNURM scheme, shared by both the state and the Central government. The project was initiated by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. This project has showcased as the model case study for other cities at the launch of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart City initiative. The company also undertook a waste water reuse project for Nagpur city under which National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will be reusing 200 mld of treated water from the STP for its Mauda plant. By doing so, the city will get an additional 200 million litres per day of water, which is enough for 200 lakh people.

“Currently, the industrial sector, which is one of the biggest consumers of water, is supplied fresh treated potable water. They can easily use waste water treated up to the secondary level. As much as 80% of the water being supplied to cities is right there. It only needs to be treated and supplied to industries. Good potable water that industries get can be swapped for residential and drinking purposes,” says Arun Lakhani. Out of a 1,000 ml litre per day supplied to a town, nearly 800 mld is coming back as sewage. Out of this almost 500 mld can be treated and supplied to commercial complexes, industries, thermal power stations and water city parks. This can solve water shortage problems in almost every town, he says.

Waste Water Reuse By Vishvaraj Infra

Mr. Arun Lakhani the CMD of Vishvaraj Infra saw the Waste Water Reuse development as a Civic Necessity and a Business Opportunity. This project went on to become a huge success story with the Orange City Water and also popularly known as Nagpur 24x7 Water Supply project. The citizens of Nagpur are extremely happy and fortunate with the implementation of the waste water reuse model.

Here’s what Arun Lakhani saw differently and thought was it was about time to change. In contrast the demand for fresh water is growing rapidly, estimated to go from 813 BCM today to 1,447 BCM by 2050, whereas the resource base remains constrained at 1,122 BCM. The industrial sector, which is one of the major users of fresh water, mostly puts fresh water to non-potable. Wastewater treated up to secondary level can easily be utilized for this purpose freeing up massive amounts of freshwater for domestic consumers. This can easily be achieved by improving the municipal wastewater collection, treatment and reuse thus not only recycling wastewater which is otherwise lost but also save the downstream water bodies from pollution. This is the win-win proposition of VIL’s model for the all the stakeholders, a unique example of creating value from waste whilst contributing positively to environmental sustainability. Amongst the challenges thrown up by increased urbanization in India one of the bigger ones is massive increase in wastewater generation. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates that about 80 percent of the water supplied for domestic use is discharged as wastewater. This pollutes the downstream areas as it enters untreated into these water bodies. Around 38,250 MLD of wastewater is generated by class I and class II cities in India, which is estimated to grow 3.5 times to 132,250 MLD by 2050. The current wastewater treatment capacity can handle only 30 percent of the total generation, out of which too only 55 percent is operational. This translates to an investment gap of over USD 7 Billion for class I and class II cities by 2016-17.

VIL India saw this as a win win situation through the reuse model. The untreated sewage will not only be treated but the treated water will also be reused by thermal power plant or any other industry. Additional potable water currently used by industries will be available for drinking water supply. The urgency of the need of dams or additional infrastructure for meeting the drinking water requirements of the growing population will be pushed by number of years. The client may recover all its investment through the sale of treated water, thus, the STP for them would be constructed without any investment addressing the menace of untreated water.

200 MLD Waste Water Treatment Project in Nagpur. Nagpur is 10th largest Indian city with ~2.5 Mn population; Population is expected to grow to 5 Mn in the next 25 years. 3rd largest and most industrialized city after Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra. The Objective was Providing Sewage Treatment for 200 MLD and possible reuse by potential Customers in Nagpur.