Rs 416 cr river rejuvenation project picks up pace

Indore: For lakhs of devotees planning to travel to Ujjain for Simhastha 2028, bathing in the Kshipra river is not merely a ritual — it is the purpose of their journey. An infrastructure upgrade is underway in Indore to ensure that when these pilgrims take a dip in the holy river, its water is clean.Indore's Kanh river feeds directly into the Kshipra in Ujjain. But the untreated sewage entering Indore's waterways poses threat to the sanctity of Ujjain's river. To break that chain, Indore Municipal Corporation is racing to complete three sewage treatment plants (STPs) before the Simhastha— a Rs 416 crore undertaking under the Namami Gange campaign to modernise the way the city manages its liquid waste.On Wednesday, IMC Commissioner Kshitij Singhal visited the construction sites, from the Kabeet Khedi plant to Kila Maidan facility, making clear that the deadline was not negotiable. Where progress lagged, he directed agencies to immediately deploy more labour and machinery.Beneath Indore's roads, crews are laying new sewer lines along Bangarda Road using trenches technology — a method that installs underground pipes without tearing up streets, keeping the city moving while its water infrastructure is transformed. "It allows us to upgrade the city's veins without disrupting traffic or causing undue inconvenience to citizens," Singhal said.Overseeing it all is a command centre in Musakhedi, where a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system tracks water pressure, supply levels and tank status across the city in real time.When the Kanh and Saraswati rivers are free of untreated waste, their cleaner waters will carry that renewal into the Kshipra. Over 30 lakh devotees are expected to attend the Ujjain Simhastha in 2028 daily.