The Ganges is one of India’s most sacred rivers. Observant Hindus must bathe in its water at least once in their lifetime. Unfortunately, the river is subject to continuous discharge of sewerage. It’s estimated that only 15% of the sewerage discharged into the Ganges is treated. To remedy this, India plans to invest $3.1 billion to restore the river to bathing water standards by 2020. The government has applied for a $2.3 billion World Bank loan to finance the project, along with central and state government funding. The plans include building wastewater treatment facilities to increase the percentage of water treated before discharge to the Ganges.
However, many believe that more money is not the solution to the problem. Although current treatment facilities are treating just one third of the sewerage, these facilities are apparently underutilized. According to R.K. Srinivasan of the Centre for Environment and Science in Delhi, many of these facilities don’t have the funds to pay for the 24-hour electricity supply that they need. Plus there is a lack of infrastructure to convey sewerage to the treatment facilities. For example, Delhi has 30 sewerage plants, but only half the city is served by sewerage pipes. Ideally, money should first be spent on India’s infrastructure and water management to convey sewerage to treatment facilities, and to better utilize the facilities that are already in operation. Regardless of India’s approach, any improvements, be it infrastructure or new treatment facilities, will benefit engineering companies that specialize in the concession model (build-own-operate or build-own-operate-transfer), such as CH2M Hill or Black & Veatch.
