India’s wastewater crisis: Indian cities spend heavily on infrastructure that people can see and use. Metros, roads and flyovers consequently receive more political attention than sewerage. The imbalance is becoming costly as cities grow faster than their capacity to treat the wastewater they produce.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs has drawn attention to the record under the second Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT 2.0), launched in October 2021. Of 594 approved sewerage and septage projects costing ₹68,309 crore, only 104, or 17.5%, have been completed. Another 398 remain under implementation. The committee has asked the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry to accelerate the programme. (Business Standard)
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India’s wastewater crisis and the treatment gap
The Central Pollution Control Board’s national inventory estimated that urban India generates 72,368 million litres of sewage a day (MLD). Installed treatment capacity was 31,841 MLD, while only 20,236 MLD was actually treated. In other words, less than three-tenths of the sewage generated reached treatment plants. The estimates relate to 2020-21 but remain the official national benchmark cited by the government. (NITI Aayog)
Much of the untreated sewage eventually pollutes rivers and groundwater. Cities then have to spend more to treat the water they draw for household supply. This is particularly wasteful when Delhi, Bengaluru and other large cities periodically face a potable water shortage.
Part of this water can be recovered. Treated sewage can replace freshwater in industries and thermal power plants where quality standards permit. Nagpur supplies treated wastewater to thermal power plants. Surat sells it to industrial consumers, saving an estimated 110-115 MLD of potable water while earning revenue for its municipal corporation. (Ministry of Jal Shakti, National Water Awards)
These arrangements address a weakness in the economics of sewage treatment. Municipalities have to meet electricity and maintenance costs long after a plant has been built. A dependable buyer for treated water can meet part of those expenses and reduce industrial demand for freshwater.
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Waterborne diseases add to the cost
The price of inadequate treatment is also paid through public health. Sewage-contaminated water spreads diarrhoeal and other waterborne diseases. Polluted irrigation water can contaminate crops. Better sewage treatment therefore reduces pressures that otherwise reappear in municipal water-treatment and healthcare bills.
Sewer networks cover only part of urban India. Many households depend on septic tanks, which require regular desludging followed by safe transport and treatment. Collecting faecal sludge achieves little if it is subsequently dumped untreated.
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AMRUT 2.0 includes septage management, but execution depends heavily on urban local bodies that often lack the technical capacity to run treatment facilities. The division of responsibility compounds the problem. States finance and supervise projects, municipalities implement them and the Centre provides part of the funding and monitors progress. Delays can leave accountability unclear.
The gap between installed treatment capacity and sewage actually treated also shows why building plants is insufficient. Municipalities need money to operate them after construction. Industrial demand for recycled water offers one source of revenue, as Surat and Nagpur have demonstrated.
India’s urban investment has concentrated on roads and mass transit while sewerage has lagged. AMRUT 2.0 was meant to narrow that gap. Five years into the programme, a completion rate of 17.5% says enough about the distance still to be covered.