Introduction
Most rural households in the Ganga basin rely on septic tanks and pits, and the faecal sludge they produce is rarely collected or treated before it reaches drains, fields and, eventually, the river. For the Namami Gange Programme, the questions were which rural blocks to tackle first and whether a block-level treatment plant could be viable. The pilot block chosen, Bahadarabad, is in Haridwar district, Uttarakhand, where the Ganga leaves the hills for the plains.
Project info
- Client: Atlas Sanitech Private Limited
- Funder / programme: Gates Foundation; Namami Gange Programme (NMCG)
- Innpact role: Technical sub-consultant
- Period: Dec 2022 – Mar 2023
- Location: Bahadarabad block, Haridwar district, Uttarakhand, India
Scope
Launched by the Government of India in 2014, the Namami Gange Programme aims to reduce pollution in the Ganga and restore the river’s ecological health. Tackling wastewater from towns and villages is central to this effort.
This project carried out a techno-economic feasibility study for a block-level sanitation treatment pilot, focused on rural settlements in Uttarakhand. By addressing faecal sludge and wastewater at source, the pilot supports the wider goal of a cleaner Ganga.
Did You Know?
- Uttarakhand is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Valley of Flowers, & Nanda Devi National Park.
- Tehri Dam, 260.5 m high, on the Bhagirathi River in Uttarakhand is the highest dam in India and is among the 10 highest dams in the world.
- The state’s first FSTP is under construction in Rudrapur.
Services Delivered
Decision-Making Framework for Block Ranking
We developed a geospatial decision-making framework to rank blocks across the Namami Gange districts by sanitation risk, as the basis for siting block-level treatment plants.
Pilot Location Finalisation
We validated the top-ranked blocks in the field and prepared a rapid assessment report, which led to the selection of the pilot location by consensus.
Techno-Economic Feasibility Study
We carried out a techno-economic feasibility study of the proposed treatment technology, covering lifecycle costs, revenue streams, tariffs and viability gap funding, to test whether the investment was justified.
Scenario Analysis for Treatment Plant Deployment
We compared two scenarios: block-level treatment plants served by transfer stations, and settlement-level treatment plants with no transfer stations as collection points.
Recommendation for Specific Block and Technology
We recommended an omni-processor treatment plant with eight transfer stations to serve the pilot block of Bahadarabad in Haridwar district.
Economic Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis
The economic assessment included a health and environmental cost-benefit analysis to measure the wider benefits of the proposed investment for the local community.
Results
- Bahadarabad block, Haridwar, selected as the pilot through risk ranking and field validation.
- Recommended system: one omni-processor treatment plant plus 8 transfer stations.
- A desludging roadmap setting out operator type, truck capacity, number of trips and treatment plant capacity.
- Techno-economic feasibility, including lifecycle costs, tariffs and a health and environmental cost-benefit analysis.
- Design of an interactive GIS web portal that can be plugged into the NMCG portal.
Work Illustration
The desludging roadmap sets out a system to improve operational efficiency, cut transport costs and ensure that faecal sludge is properly treated and disposed of. It specifies the operator type, truck capacity, number of trips and faecal sludge treatment plant capacity, giving a clear picture of the whole sanitation chain.
