(a) whether sewage treatment plants located in different States are not functioning properly and causing pollution to rivers;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
(c) whether the Union Government has received proposals from various State Governments including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for upgradation of existing sewage treatment plants and setting up new plants;
(d) if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
(e) the action taken by the Government in this regard besides providing funds?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) & (b) It is responsibility of the State Governments/concerned local bodies for proper treatment and disposal of sewage generated so that the untreated sewage is not discharged in rivers and other water bodies, thereby polluting them. As per the inventorization of sewage treatment plants (STPs) carried out by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2014-15, out of 601 STPs established in various States and Union Territories, 522 STPs are operational while 79 are non-operational. State-wise details are at Annexure.
(c) to (e) This Ministry has been supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) programme. Proposals are received from the State Governments, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, from time to time for taking up various pollution abatement works, including setting-up/upgradation of STPs, in towns along identified stretches of polluted rivers under these programmes. The proposals are sanctioned after due appraisal on the basis of the prescribed Guidelines as well as availability of budgetary allocations under these programmes. The NGRBA programme along with work of Ganga and its tributaries is with the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR) from 1st August, 2014 onwards. 1430 projects/schemes have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 12202.59 crore and sewage treatment capacity of 5169 mld (million litres per day) has been created so far under NRCP and NGRBA (till 31st July, 2014) programmes.
State Governments, apart from their own budgetary allocation, are also accessing financial assistance for creation of sewerage infrastructure, including STPs, in various cities/towns under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) programme of Ministry of Urban Development and the Namami Gange programme under NGRBA of MoWR,RD&GR.
CPCB has issued directions in April, 2015 to all State Pollution Control Boards/ Pollution Control Committees to make mandatory for local bodies to establish STPs of adequate capacity and provide sewerage system to cover the entire local/urban areas to bridge the treatment gap along with enforcement of standards for sewage treatment. CPCB also issued directions in October, 2015 to 46 municipal authorities of metropolitan cities and 23 municipal authorities of State capitals for treatment and utilization of sewage for restoration of water quality of rivers and other water bodies.
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