Lok Sabha Question No. 1721 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-08
Subject: Pollution of Water Bodies
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: DINESH TRIVEDI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1721

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.03.2016

## Pollution of Water Bodies

## 1721. SHRI DINESH TRIVEDI:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  or  any  of  its  agencies  maintain  data  on  pollution  of  water bodies including the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the lakes in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the trends in pollution of these water bodies during each of the last three years; and
- (c) the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  check/reduce  pollution  in  these  water bodies?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a)&(b)      Monitoring  of  marine  pollution  through  Coastal  Ocean  Monitoring  and  Prediction System Programme is carried out by Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management Project Directorate  (ICMAM),  Chennai  under  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences.  Central  Pollution  Control Board  (CPCB)  in  association  with  State  Pollution  Control  Boards  (SPCBs)/Pollution  Control Committees  (PCCs)  is  monitoring  water  bodies  covering  rivers,  lakes,  ponds  and  wells  (for ground  water  assessment)  across  the  country  under  National  Water  Quality  Monitoring Programme (NWMP) at 2500 locations covering 1275 on rivers, 190 on lakes, 45 on drains, 41 on canals, 12 on tanks, 41 on creeks / seawater, 79 on ponds, 10 Water Treatment Plant (Raw Water)  and  807  groundwater  locations.  According  to  an  assessment  of  the  CPCB,  the  water quality of 151 lakes, ponds & tanks are exceeding the prescribed limit in terms of BOD, a key indicator for organic pollution. The water quality at majority of locations of creeks and seawater are  not  meeting  the  prescribed  criteria  for  Dissolved  Oxygen  (DO),  Bio-chemical  Oxygen Demand (BOD), Conductivity and Faecal Coliform.

- (c)      The  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  the  issues  of  water  pollution  include  the following:-
- i. Preparation  of  action  plan  for  sewage  management  and  restoration  of  water  quality  in aquatic resources by State Governments;
- ii. Installation  of  Online  Effluent  Monitoring  System  to  check  the  discharge  of  effluent directly into the rivers and water bodies;
- iii. Setting up of monitoring network for assessment of water quality;
- iv. Action to comply with effluent standards is taken by SPCBs / PCCs to improve the water quality of the rivers;
- v. Installation  of  Common  Effluent  Treatment  Plants  for  cluster  of  Small  Scale  Industrial units;
- vi. Issuance of directions for implementation of Zero Liquid Discharge;
- vii. Issuance  of  directions  under  Section  5  of  Environment  (Protection)  Act,  1986  to industries and under Section 18(1)(b) of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974;
- viii. Implementation  of  National  Lake  Conservation  Plan  (NLCP)  and  National  Wetland Conservation Programme (NWCP) for conservation and management of identified lakes and wetlands in the country which have been merged in February, 2013 into an integrated scheme of National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) to undertake various  conservation  activities  including  interception,  diversion  and  treatment  of  waste water, pollution abatement, lake beautification, biodiversity conservation, education and awareness creation and community participation, etc.;
- ix. Notified the Coastal Regulation Zone notification wherein coastal stretches are declared as  Coastal  Regulation  Zones  (CRZ)  imposing  restrictions  on  industries,  operations  and processes for conservation and protection of coastal areas and marine waters;
- x. Constitution of National and State /Union Territory Coastal Zone Management Authorities under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to ensure monitoring and enforcement of the CRZ notification.

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