MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) & (b) The water quality of rivers, lakes & other water bodies is regularly monitored by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in collaboration with State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) through a network of 2500 monitoring stations in 28 States and 6 Union Territories. This includes 1275 monitoring stations on rivers and 281 monitoring stations on lakes, tanks & ponds, which cover 445 rivers as well as 244 lakes, tanks & ponds.
Pollution loads in rivers, lakes and other water bodies has increased over the years due to rapid urbanization, industrialization & discharge of untreated wastewater on account of inadequate treatment facilities. As per the report published by CPCB in February 2015, 302 polluted river stretches have been identified on 275 rivers based on Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, a key indicator of organic pollution. The State-wise number of stretches are- Maharashtra (49), Assam (28), Madhya Pradesh (21), Gujarat (20), West Bengal (17), Karnataka (15), Kerala (13), Uttar Pradesh (13), Manipur (12), Orissa (12), Meghalaya (10), Jammu & Kashmir (9), Goa (8), Himachal Pradesh (8), Jharkhand (8), Rajasthan (8), Tamil Nadu (7), Telangana (7), Andhra Pradesh (6), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (5), Sikkim (5), Uttarakhand (5), Nagaland (3), Haryana (2), Punjab (2), Tripura (2), Daman & Diu (1) and Delhi (1). Also as reported by CPCB, the water quality of 151 lakes, ponds & tanks is exceeding the prescribed limit in terms of BOD, including 4 in Uttar Pradesh and 5 in Rajasthan.
(c) & (d) Conservation of rivers & lakes is a continuous and ongoing process. It is the responsibility of the State Governments/ concerned local bodies to set up proper facilities for collection, transportation and treatment of sewage being generated and ensure that untreated sewage does not fall into the rivers, lakes and water bodies thereby polluting them. This Ministry has been supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and NGRBA (National Ganga River Basin Authority) programmes. The NGRBA programme along with work of Ganga & its tributaries is with Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation from 01/08/2014 onwards. The programmes of NRCP & NGRBA (till 1/8/2014) have covered polluted stretches of 42 rivers in 199 towns spread over 21 States at a sanctioned cost of Rs.10955.22 crore so far. Sewage treatment capacity of 5084 million litres per day (mld) has been created so far under these two programmes.
For conservation and management of identified lakes and wetlands in the country, this Ministry had been earlier implementing two separate programmes, namely National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetland Conservation Programme (NWCP). To have better synergy and to avoid overlap, both the programmes have been merged in February, 2013 into a new integrated scheme of National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA). So far projects for conservation of 63 lakes in 14 States have been sanctioned at a total cost of Rs.1096.09 crores under the NLCP, and work of 30 lakes has been completed. Under the NWCP, an amount of Rs 138.53 crores has so far been released to the concerned State Governments for undertaking various conservation activities in 80 identified wetlands.
The details of funds released to various State Governments for implementation of sanctioned works under NRCP/NGRBA & NPCA programmes since 2011-12, State-wise are at Annexure-I & Annexure-II respectively.
(e) To promote eco-friendly industries, the Ministry has formulated schemes to facilitate and support development and promotion of clean technology and waste minimization strategy to help small and medium scale sector, with the primary objective of protection of environment. Steps have also been taken by CPCB to promote low waste and no waste concept leading to Zero Liquid Discharge by grossly water polluting industries, particularly those located on the river banks. In addition, eco-friendly technologies have been demonstrated for sectors like pulp & paper, sugar and distilleries, with the emphasis on reuse and recycling to reduce water consumption.
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