(a) whether the Government has undertaken any projects for treatment of waste water before it is allowed to enter river waters and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the details of rivers covered under the said projects;
(c) the details of major sources of pollutants entering the river and the steps being taken to treat these pollutants at source; and
(d) whether there exists any penal provisions for dumping of pollutants into rivers and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)
(a) to (c) Pollution load in rivers has increased over the years due to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Discharge of untreated and partially treated industrial effluents/ wastewater and municipal sewage from towns constitute the major source of pollution in rivers.
It is the responsibility of the State Governments/ concerned local bodies to set up facilities for collection, transportation and treatment of sewage for abatement of pollution of rivers. 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), which has covered polluted stretches of 31 rivers in 75 towns spread over 14 States at a sanctioned cost of Rs. 4517.82 crore. So far, Central share of Rs. 2066.98 crore has been released to the State Governments for implementation of various pollution abatement schemes and sewage treatment capacity of 2446.24 mld (million litres per day) has been created under the NRCP. The details of towns and rivers covered so far under NRCP, State-wise are at Annexure.
State Governments, apart from their own budgetary allocation, are also accessing financial assistance for creation of sewerage infrastructure, including sewage treatment plants, in various cities/towns under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) & Smart Cities Mission programmes of Ministry of Urban Development and the ‘Namami Gange’ programme of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
CPCB has issued directions under Section 18 1(b) of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 in April, 2015 to all the State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees in the country, for setting up of sewage treatment plants in their respective States. CPCB also issued directions in October, 2015 to 69 municipal authorities of metropolitan cities and State capitals, under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to ensure proper treatment and disposal of sewage generated for abatement of pollution of rivers.
To control discharge of industrial effluents, the CPCB and respective State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees monitor industries with respect to effluents discharge standards and take action for non-compliance under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
(d) As per the provision of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, whoever fails to comply with or contravenes any of the provisions of this Act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years with fine which may extend to Rs. one lakh, or both, and in case the failure or contravention continues, with additional fine which may extend to Rs.5,000/- for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after the conviction for the first such failure or contravention. If the failure or contravention continues beyond a period of one year after the date of conviction, the offender shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years.
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