Lok Sabha Question No. 1635 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-29
Subject: Water Level and Quality of Rivers
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Vijay Baghel, Arun Sao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI, DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.

## †1635 ANSWERED ON 29 .07 .2021

## WATER LEVEL AND QUAL ITY OF RIVERS

## †1635. SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL SHRI ARUN SAO

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether there is a huge decline in water level and water quality in the rivers of the c last few years;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the remedial steps taken by the Govern ment in this regard;

(c) whether the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given any instruction in this regard, if thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;

(d) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to ensure smoot h flow of small and major rivers in the country along with the progress made in this regard so far; and

(e) the details of the funds spent on cleaning of such rivers during each of the last three year, river and State - wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES ( SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL )

(a)  &  (b) The  flow  in  a  river  is  a  dynamic  parameter  and  depends  on  many  sub - parameters  such  as rainfall, its distribution, duration and intensity in the catchment , health of catchment area, vegetation a withdrawals/utilization of water. While reports by some experts have expressed concern about reduc in water flow in rivers, the annual average flow data maintained by Central Water Commission last 20 years for major/important rivers in the country does not indicate any significant de availability.  However,  as  per  CWC,  the  per  capita  annual  water  availability  in  the progressively reduced due to increase in population, urbaniza tion, improved lifestyle of people, etc.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in association with the State Pollution Contr (SPCBs)/Pollution  Control  Committee  (PCC)  have  been  monitoring  water  quality  of  rivers  a water bodies in the cou ntry through a network of monitoring stations under the National Water Monitoring  Programme.  Based  on  water  quality  monitoring  results,  pollution  assessment  of been  carried  out  by  CPCB  from  time  to  time.  Rivers  in  the  country  are  pollute d  due  to  discharge  of untreated  and  partially  treated  sewage  from  cities/towns  and  industrial  effluents  in  t catchments, problems in operation and maintenance of sewage/effluent treatment plants, lack and other non - point sources of pollution. Rapid urbanization and industrialization have compound problem.Based on monitoring results in terms of Bio -chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), an indicator of organic pollution, the polluted river stretches identified by CPCB from time to ti me are given below:

|   Polluted river stretches |   Report publishing year | Water Quality Monitoring (Sampling period Year)   |
|----------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
|                        302 |                     2015 | 2009 - 2012                                       |
|                        351 |                     2018 | 2016 - 2017                                       |

The 351 polluted river stretches have been categorized into 5 Priority Classes, based on under:

| Priority   | BOD level in mg/l   |   No. of polluted river |
|------------|---------------------|-------------------------|
| Priority   | exceeding 30        |                      45 |
| Priority   | between 20 - 30     |                      16 |
| Priority   | between 10 - 20     |                      43 |
| Priority   | between 6 - 10      |                      72 |
| Priority   | between 3 - 6       |                     175 |
| Total :    |                     |                     351 |

It is the responsibility of the States/UTs and local bodies to ensure required treat and industrial effluents to the prescribed norms before discharging into water bodies, coa land  to  prevent  and  control  of  pollution therein.  For  conservation  of  rivers,  this  Ministry  has supplementing efforts of the States/UTs by providing financial and technical assistance for pollution in identified stretches of rivers in the country through the Central Sector Sch me of Namami Gange for rivers in Ganga basin and Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservat (NRCP) for other rivers.

NRCP has so far covered polluted stretches on 34 rivers in 77 towns spread over 16 St country  w ith  the  sanctioned  cost  of  projects  as  Rs.5965.90  crore,  and  sewage  treatment 2522.03 MLD created. Under Namami Gange programme, a total of 346 projects including 158 proj for sewage treatment of 4948 MLD and sewer network of 5213 km, have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs.30235 crore.

In addition, sewerage infrastructure is created under programs like Atal Mission for & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Mission of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affair

As per the Provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Water (Prevention & Co Pollution), Act 1974, industrial units are required to install effluent treatment plants (ET effluents  to  comply  with  stipulated  environmental  s tandards  before  discharging  into  river  and  wat bodies.  Accordingly, CPCB,  SPCBs  and  PCCs  monitor  industries  with  respect  to  effluent  disch standards and take action for non - compliance under provisions of these Acts.

Steps taken by the Gov ernment to stop discharge of industrial effluents into rivers inter a issuance  of  notification  of  specific discharge  standards,  revision  of  the  criteria  for  categoriz industries  and  issuing directions  to  all  State  Pollution  Control  Bo ards  (SPCBs)/Pollution  Control Committees (PCCs) to adopt the same, issuanceof consentto establish /consentto operateby the

SPCBs/PCCs, based on Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI) critically polluted a are identified to take necessary measures through time - targeted Action Plans, regular inspections of Gro Polluting  Industries  (GPIs)  by  CPCB  for  compliance  verification,  installation  of  Online Effluent  Monitoring  System  (OCEMS)  for  assessme nt  of  effluent  quality  and  compliance  status. addition,  the  industries  are  encouraged  to  reduce  their  waste  water  generation  by  t advancement,  reuse/recycle  of  wastewater  and  maintain  Zero  Liquid  Discharge  (ZLD)  wher possible.

(c)  &  ( d) In  compliance  of  the  orders  of  National  Green  Tribunal  (NGT)  in  Original  Appl No.673/2018 regarding rejuvenation of polluted river stretches in the country, States/UTs a implement approved action plans for restoration of the pollut ed stretches in their jurisdiction as ident by CPCB in their report of 2018 within the stipulated timelines, including maintenance of e flows. As per the orders of NGT, regular review on implementation of action plans is under States/UTs and also at Central level.

Government of India, vide Notification dated 9 th October, 2018, has notified minimum environmental  flows  to  be  maintained  in  river  Ganga  from  its  origin  to  Unnao in  U tar  Pradesh.  The notified environmental flow regime is monitored and supervised by Central Water Commission.

Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC)  in  the  Standard  Terms Reference (ToR) for conducting the Environment al Impact Assessment (EIA) studies for any propose River  Valley  and  Hydroelectric  Project  have  mentioned  the  norms  for  release  of  environmen which  is  30%  in  monsoon,  20%  in  lean  season  and  25%  in  non - monso &  non- lean  season  to  be followed  corre sponding  to  flow  of  90%  dependable  year.  These  norms  along  with  the  site  s requirements  for  environment  flow  releases  as  per  the  studies  are  then  stipulated  in  the Clearance (EC) letter for compliance.

With  regards  to  the  mo nitoring  of  the  environmental  flow  releases,  the  Regional  off MoEF&CC and CPCB along with the State Pollution Control Boards concerned have been mandated monitoring of all the environmental aspects of the Hydro Power Projects.

(e) Details o f State - wise and year - wise funds released to the State Governments/Union Territories d last three years under NRCP and Namami G nge programme is given at Annexure .

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. †1635 to be answered on29.07.2021 regarding ' Water Level and Quality of Rivers '.

- (a) Details of State - wise and year - wise funds released to the State Governments/Union Territori during  last  three  years,  including  current  year,  under  NRCP  (e xcluding  river  Ganga  and its tributaries)

(Rs. in crore)

| Sl.   | State/UT        | River                   | Funds Released   | Funds Released   | Funds Released   | Funds Released        |
|-------|-----------------|-------------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|-----------------------|
| No.   |                 |                         | 2018- 19         | 2019- 20         | 2020- 21         | 2021- 22 (30/06/2021) |
| 1.    | Gujarat         | Sabarmati, Mindola&Tapi | 63.00            | 96.89            | 27.26            | 25.00                 |
| 2.    | Jammu & Kashmir | Devika&Tawi             | 30.00            | -                | 20.00            | -                     |
| 3.    | Manipur         | Nambul                  | 3.00             | 15.00            | 20.00            | -                     |
| 4.    | Sikkim          | Rani Chu                | 42.00            | 10.00            | 20.00            | 10.00                 |
| 5.    | Nagaland        | Diphu&Dhansiri          | 5.00             | 10.00            | 5.13             | 14.87                 |
| Total | Total           |                         | 143.00           | 131.89           | 92.39            | 49.87                 |

- (b) State - wise details of funds released to various States under Namami Gange programme during last three years, including current year

(Rs. in crore)

|                                                             |                                             | Funds Released   | Funds Released   | Funds Released   | Funds Released        |
|-------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|-----------------------|
| State                                                       | Rivers                                      | 2018- 19         | 2019- 20         | 2020- 21         | 2021- 22 (30/06/2021) |
| Uttarakhand                                                 | Ganga, RispanaBindal, Kosi                  | 341.44           | 128.20           | 124.82           | 79.54                 |
| Uttar Pradesh                                               | Ganga, Yamuna, Kali, Gomti, Saryu, Ramganga | 823.77           | 821.09           | 472.46           | 37.58                 |
| Bihar                                                       | Ganga, Gandak, Kharkhari                    | 673.03           | 1,185.17         | 194.43           | 5.68                  |
| Jharkhand                                                   | Ganga                                       | 74.23            | 30.50            | 28.03            | 1.73                  |
| West Bengal                                                 | Ganga, Damodar, Banka                       | 227.62           | 70.60            | 105.06           | 0.94                  |
| Delhi                                                       | Yamuna                                      | 310.69           | 214.47           | 235.00           | 0                     |
| Haryana                                                     | Yamuna                                      | ----             | ----             | ----             | 0                     |
| Irrigation & Public Health Department, Himachal Pradesh     |                                             | ----             | ----             | 1.25             | 0                     |
| NMCG's Expenditure including other Basin wide interventions |                                             | 175.76           | 223.06           | 178.92           | 21.98                 |
| Total                                                       |                                             | 2,626.54         | 2,673.09         | 1,339.97         | 147.45                |

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