Lok Sabha Question No. 1329 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-28
Subject: Pollution in Rivers and Lakes
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Andimuthu Raja

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1329

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.06.2019

## Pollution in Rivers and Lakes

SHRI  A.  RAJA:  Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of rivers and lakes bearing the brunt of pollution across the country including Tamil Nadu indicating the reasons for the same;
- (b) the action taken/being taken by the Government to curb pollution and revive these rivers and lakes;
- (c) the details of the funds sanctioned, allocated and utilized for the said purpose during the last  three  years  and the  current  year  across  the  country,  State/UT-wise including Tamil Nadu;
- (d) the details of the targets set and achievements made so far; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  form  a  Committee  to  resolve  these issues expeditiously and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

- (a) Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in association with the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) monitors the water quality of rivers on a regular basis. As per a report published by CPCB in September 2018, out of total 351 polluted river stretches in the country, following 06 polluted river stretches have been identified in Tamil  Nadu,  based  on  the  Bio-chemical  Oxygen  Demand  (BOD)  level,  a  key indicator of organic pollution.

|   Sl. No. | River           | Identified Polluted Stretches   |
|-----------|-----------------|---------------------------------|
|         1 | Cauvery         | Meetur to Mayiladuthurai        |
|         2 | Sarabanga       | Thathayampatti to T. Konagapadi |
|         3 | Thirumanimuthar | Salem to Papparapatti           |
|         4 | Vasista         | Manivilundhan to Thiyaganur     |
|         5 | Bhavani         | Sirumugai to Kalingarayan       |
|         6 | Tambirapani     | Pappankulam Toarumuganeri       |

With regard to wetlands & lakes, total 180 wetlands including lakes have been prioritized for conservation and management under National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA). Out of these, 2 lakes (Ooty Lake & Kodaikanal lake) and 3 wetlands (Point Calimere, Kalivele & Pallai Karnai) have been prioritized for Tamil Nadu.

(b) & (c) Project proposals are received from the State Governments from time to time for taking up pollution abatement works in towns along various rivers, and are considered  for  financial  assistance  under  the  National  River  Conservation  Plan (NRCP)  subject  to  their  conformity  with  the  scheme  guidelines,  pollution  status, prioritization,  appraisal  by  independent  institutions  and  availability  of  Plan  funds. NRCP (excluding Ganga and its tributaries which  is  handled  by  Ministry  of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation from 01/08/2014 onwards) has covered polluted stretches of 34 rivers in 77 towns spread over 16 States at a sanctioned cost of Rs. 5870.55 crore including State of Tamil Nadu amounting to Rs. 908.13 crore. So far, Central Share of Rs. 2378.73 crore has been released to the State Governments for implementation of various pollution abatement schemes and sewage treatment capacity of 2522.03 million litres per day (mld) has been created of which 477.66 mld in Tamil Nadu. State-wise details of funds released to various State Governments during the last three years and current year (till 30.6.2018) under NRCP are at Annexure I .

State Government, 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) programme of Ministry of Urban Development and the  Namami  Gange  programme  (under  NGRBA)  of  MoWR,  RD&GR.  To  ensure proper treatment  of municipal sewage  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  SPCBs/Pollution  Control  Committees (PCCs)  in  the  country,  including  Tamil  Nadu,  regarding  setting  up  of  sewage treatment  plants  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 Ganga) under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for proper treatment and disposal of sewage generated to control pollution in rivers.

Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC)  is  currently implementing  a  centrally  sponsored  scheme  named  NPCA  for  conservation  and management  of  wetlands  (including  lakes)  in  the  country  on  cost  sharing  basis between  Central  Government  and  respective  State  Governments.  The  scheme covers various activities such as interception, diversion and treatment of wastewater, shoreline protection, lake front development, in-situ cleaning i.e. desilting & deweeding,  storm  water  management,  bioremediation,  catchment  area  treatment, lake  beautification,  survey  &  demarcation,  biofencing,  fisheries  development,  weed control,  biodiversity  conservation,  education  and  awareness  creation,  community participation, etc.

For more effective conservation and management of wetlands in the country, the  Central  Government  in  consultation  with  the  States,  Union  Territories,  Central line  Ministries  and other  stakeholders, have notified the Wetlands (Conservation & Management) Rules, 2017 superseding the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. As per the Wetlands Rules-2017, certain activities are prohibited under the provision 4(2), which are applicable to wetlands notified by the Central  Government,  State  Government  and  Union  Territory  Administration  and  to wetlands  categorized  as  'wetlands  of  international  importance'  under  the  Ramsar Convention.  The  fund  released  during  last  three  years  and  current  year  for conservation activities including pollution abatement in the lakes and wetlands is in Annexure II.

(d)  &  (e)  In  Original  Application  (O.A)  No.  673  /  2018  Hon'ble  National  Green Tribunal (NGT), Principal Bench has passed an order on 20.09.2018 directing all the States  and  Union  Territories  (UTs)  to  prepare  action  plans  for  bringing  all  the polluted  river  stretches  up  to  the  bathing  standards.  The  'River  Rejuvenation Committee'  (RRC)  constituted  by  the  concerned  State  Government  and  Union Territories have been tasked to prepare and finalize the action plans.

## Annexure I

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts  (b)  &  (c)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred Question No. 1329 to be answered on the 28 th June 2019 on 'Pollution in Rivers and Lakes'

Details of State-wise and year-wise funds released to the State Governments/Union Territories during last three years on rivers under NRCP

(Rs. in crore)

| Sl. No.           | State             | River                     | 2015-16   | 2016-17   | 2017-18   | 2018-19   |
|-------------------|-------------------|---------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Budget Allocation | Budget Allocation | Budget Allocation         | 66.73     | 101.00    | 173.50    | 150.50    |
| 1.                | Gujarat           | Sabarmati, Mindola & Tapi | 24.12     | 71.40     | 62.00     | 63.00     |
| 2.                | Jammu & Kashmir   | Devika & Tawi             | -         | -         | -         | 30.00     |
| 3.                | Maharashtra       | Mula Mutha                | 4.99      | 21.00     | 31.75     | -         |
| 4.                | Punjab            | Ghaggar, Beas & Satluj    | 17.61     | --        | 50.00     | -         |
| 5.                | Kerala            | Pamba                     | 5.00      | --        | --        | -         |
| 6.                | Manipur           | Nambul                    | --        | --        | --        | 3.00      |
| 7.                | Sikkim            | Rani Chu                  | 1.00      | 5.00      | 18.01     | 42.00     |
| 8.                | Nagaland          | Diphu & Dhansiri          | 10.00     | --        | 5.00      | 5.00      |
| 9.                | Odisha            | Coastal Area (Puri)       | --        | --        | 1.99      | -         |
| Total             | Total             |                           | 62.72     | 97.40     | 168.75    | 143.00    |

## Annexure II

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts  (b)  &  (c)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred Question No. 1329 to be answered on the 28 th June 2019 on 'Pollution in Rivers and Lakes'

Details of State-wise and year-wise funds released to the State Governments/Union Territories during last three years on wetlands & lakes under NPCA scheme.

(Rs. in crore)

| S. No.   | State               | 2016-17   | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-20   |
|----------|---------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1        | Bihar               | -         | 3.60724   | 6.5965    | --        |
| 2        | Gujarat             | -         | -         | -         | --        |
| 3        | Haryana             | 0.652     | 0.1320    | 1.4264    | -         |
| 4        | H.P.                | 0.870     | 0.98989   | -         | -         |
| 5        | Jammu & Kashmir     | -         | 23.8201   | 0.86565   | -         |
| 6        | Karnataka           | 2.28      | -         | -         | -         |
| 7        | Kerala              | -         | 2.07075   | -         | -         |
| 8        | Madhya Pradesh      | 12.00     | 0.9240    | 4.24669   | -         |
| 9        | Manipur             | 1.031     | 0.9280    | 3.852     | -         |
| 10.      | Mizoram             | 0.585     | 0.9846    | 1.2153    | -         |
| 11.      | Maharashtra         | -         | 8.74397   | 4.91942   | -         |
| 12.      | Nagaland            | 0.42      | -         | 10        | -         |
| 13.      | Odisha              | 0.399     | 6.1846    | 5.8072    | -         |
| 14.      | Puducherry          | 0.10      | 0.30      | 0.5       | -         |
| 15.      | Punjab              | -         | -         | -         | -         |
| 16.      | Rajasthan           | 13.56     | 1.54      | -         | -         |
| 17.      | Sikkim              | 0.714     | 1.8374    | 3.11818   | -         |
| 18.      | Tamil Nadu          | -         | 1.05795   | 1.200884  | -         |
| 19.      | Uttar Pradesh       | 26.172    | 2.50      | 18.680276 | 1.43      |
| 20.      | West Bengal         | 1.013     | -         | 0.9965    | -         |
|          | Sub total           | 59.796    | 55.6205   | 63.425    | 1.43      |
|          | R&D                 | 0.195825  | 0.342     | 0.5313106 | 0.15      |
|          | Total (Expenditure) | 59.9918   | 55.9625   | 63.9563   | 1.58      |