India, Aug. 20 -- The Master Plan of Delhi for 2047 (MPD-247) has proposed detailed land norms for essential civic infrastructure, including sewage and water treatment plants, waste-management facilities and electricity substations, with the aim of ensuring that utility infrastructure is planned alongside the city's future expansion. However, experts say planning land must be matched by timely execution. Dedicated space for water, sewage facilities Under the proposed norms, sewage treatment plants (STPs) with sewage and effluent pumping stations of up to 5 MGD (22.7 MLD) capacity will require 650 sqm per MLD, while larger STPs will require 1,100 sqm per MLD. Sewage and effluent pumping stations will require 50 sqm per MLD. For water treatment plants, the plan proposes 300 sqm per MLD for an 80 MGD (363 MLD) facility and 400 sqm per MLD for a 40 MGD (182 MLD) facility. Underground reservoirs with booster pumping stations will also have specified land requirements. Also Read - Delhi plugs in 200 e-buses, fleet crosses 5,000 Advertisement The proposed framework comes as Delhi continues to expand its sewage-treatment network. The city's STP capacity is around 814 MGD, with the government targeting 1,506 MGD per day. At the same time, monitoring has shown that some existing plants require improvement in operations and compliance. A senior planning official said, "The objective is to ensure that adequate land is identified for essential infrastructure at the planning stage itself, rather than trying to accommodate these facilities after development has taken place." Waste infrastructure gets planning focus For solid waste management, the plan proposes 200 sqm per 10,000 population for local-level waste segregation and utility-vehicle parking facilities. At the sub-city level, material recovery facilities would require 6,000-8,000 sqm per five lakh population. Also Read - 4 MCD councillors eye DDA Advisory Council The provision assumes significance as Delhi's waste generation is expected to rise substantially over the coming decades. The norms are aimed at creating a planned network for segregation, recovery and processing closer to areas where waste is generated. But Delhi currently generates around 11,862 tonnes of municipal solid waste a day against processing capacity of 7,641 TPD, leaving a gap of about 4,200 tonnes daily. MCD's waste segregation rate was also only around 59%, according to the 2025-26 Economic Survey, highlighting the importance of ensuring that earmarked land is eventually backed by functional facilities and effective waste segregation. Power infrastructure also mapped MPD-2047 proposes land requirements ranging from 48-80 sqm for 11-kV substations to 16 hectares for 765-kV substations, providing a long-term framework for electricity infrastructure as demand rises. Experts said the approach could help Delhi avoid the problem of finding utility land after residential and commercial development has already taken place.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.