Question : Pollution in Rivers

(a) whether waste disposal into rivers is causing pollution in various rivers of the country and if so, the details thereof, river and State/UT-wise;
(b) whether the Government has made any assessment of the untreated contaminated water and industrial waste flowing into various rivers in the country and if so, the details thereof;
(c) the total amount spent on the cleaning of various rivers during each of the last three years and the current year, river and State/UT-wise;
(d) whether the Government has made any assessment of the progress made in cleaning of major rivers of the country and if so, the details thereof and the success achieved in this regard; and
(e) the other steps taken and schemes formulated by the Government to check pollution and make major rivers of the country pollution free?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a)to (e)A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No.71 to be answered on Friday, the 14th December, 2018 on ‘Pollution in Rivers’ by Shri Ashok Mahadeorao Nete and Shri Nihal Chand

(a) & (b)Pollution load in rivers has increased over the years due to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Rivers in the country are mainly polluted due to discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents. Non-point sources of pollution like agricultural runoff, open defecation, runoff from solid waste dump sites, etc. also contribute to pollution of rivers. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in association with the State Pollution Control Boards monitors the water quality of rivers across the country through a network of monitoring stations under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme. As per the report published by CPCB in September 2018, 351 polluted river stretches have been identified on 323 rivers based on Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, a key indicator of organic pollution. The State-wise details of identified polluted river stretches are at Annexure-I.

As per another report published by CPCB in March, 2015, the sewage generation from urban areas in the country is estimated at 61,948 million litres per day (mld), against which the available sewage treatment capacity is only 23,277 mld (37% of the sewage generation). The State-wise details of sewage generation from urban areas and corresponding sewage treatment capacity available are at Annexure-II.

(c) to (e) Pollution abatement of rivers is a continuous and ongoing process. 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 rivers under the scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), on a cost sharing basis between the Central and State Governments. NRCP {excluding Ganga and its tributaries, which are handled by Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR) from 01/08/2014 onwards} has so far covered polluted stretches of 33 rivers in 76 towns spread over 15 States in the country at a sanctioned cost of Rs. 4801.57 crore, and Central share of Rs. 2337.73 crore has been released to the State Governments for implementation of various pollution abatement schemes. Sewage treatment capacity of 2520.43 mld (million litres per day) has been created so far under the NRCP resulting in reduction in pollution load being discharged into the rivers. State-wise details of rivers covered and funds released during the last three years and current financial year under NRCP are given at Annexure-III.


State Governments, apart from their own budgetary allocation, are also accessing financial assistance for creation of sewerage infrastructure, including sewage treatment plants (STPs), in various cities/towns under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Mission of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs as well as Namami Gange programme of MoWR,RD&GR. The details of amount spent by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) of MoWR,RD&GR under Namami Gange programme during last three years and current year are at Annexure –IV.

To ensure proper treatment of municipal wastewater before discharge into the rivers, 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 (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) in the country for setting up of STPs in their respective States. CPCB has also issued directions in October, 2015 to municipal authorities of 184 towns (66 metropolitan cities and State capitals + towns along river Ganga) under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to ensure proper treatment and disposal of sewage generated for abatement of pollution of rivers.

Further, to control discharge of industrial effluents, CPCB and respective SPCBs/PCCs monitor industries with respect to effluent discharge standards and take action for non-compliance under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. To improve the monitoring of compliance, directions have been issued by CPCB to specific industries to install online 24x7 effluent monitoring systems. Steps have also been taken by CPCB to promote low waste concept in grossly water polluting industries, particularly those located on the river banks.

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