Lok Sabha Question No. 108 (STARRED), answered on 2016-03-03
Subject: Polluted River Stretches
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: DHARMENDRA YADAV, Shrirang Appa Barne

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. †*108

ANSWERED ON 03.03.2016

## POLLUTED RIVER STRETCHES

| †*108.                                                                                                                                                               | SHRIDHARMENDRA YADAV SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE                                                                                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Will the REJUVENATION                                                                                                                                                | Minister of WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA be pleased to state:                                                                                        |
| (a) whether the Government is aware that besides river Ganga, 254 other polluted river stretches too require attention towards cleaning, if so, the details thereof; | (a) whether the Government is aware that besides river Ganga, 254 other polluted river stretches too require attention towards cleaning, if so, the details thereof; |
| ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER                                                                                                   | ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER                                                                                                   |
| THE DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION (SUSHRIUMA BHARTI)                                                                                                            |                                                                                                                                                                      |

## Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts  (a)  to  (e)  of  Lok  Sabha  Starred  Question  No.108to  be  answered  on Thursday, the 3rdMarch, 2016 on 'Polluted River Stretches'raised by SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV: SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE

(a)& (b) Yes, Madam. The Government is aware that there are several other river stretches other than river Ganga. In fact, based on the water quality assessment conducted Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), CPCB had identified 150 river stretches as polluted on 121 rivers in the country during 2008. During 2015, the status was re-assessed and 302 river stretches identified  as polluted  on  275 rivers  in  the  country  including  river  Ganga;  and communicated to State Pollution Control Boards for preparing action plan for restoration of these river stretches.

(c) to (e) Yes, Madam. The Government has studied the CPCB report.The Government  has formulated river action plans to restore water quality of rivers through the Ministry for Water Resources for river Ganga and its tributaries, and through the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change for all other rivers. The river action plans have been taken up on  rivers through State Governments to intercept, divert and treatment of municipal wastewater from urban centers which is not been able to adequately handle the complete sewage treatment.

There  are  650  towns  along  the  302  polluted  river  stretches  identified  on  275  rivers.  Out  of  46  metropolitan  cities (Census 2011), 35 cities are located along the polluted river stretches.

The state-wise number of towns/cities in descending order are - Maharashtra (161), Assam (49), West Bengal (46), Gujarat (38), Madhya Pradesh (37), Uttar Pradesh (37), Karnataka (24), Kerala (22), Tamil Nadu (23), Odisha (20), Rajasthan  (20),  Jammu  &  Kashmir  (18),  Manipur  (17),  Telangana  (18),  Jharkhand  (16),  Himachal  Pradesh  (14), Chhattisgarh (12), Meghalaya (12), Sikkim (11), Goa (9), Andhra Pradesh (8), Bihar (8), Haryana (7), Uttarakhand (6), Nagaland (4), Tripura (4), Punjab (5), Daman & Diu (2), Delhi (1).

Out  of  46  metropolitan  cities    (Census  2011),      35  cities  (Vijayawada,  Patna,  Raipur,  Delhi,  Ahmedabad,  Surat, Vadodara, Srinagar, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bangalore, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, PimpriChinchwad,  Nashik,  Kalyan-Dombivali,  Vasai-Virar,  Ludhiana,  Kota,  Hyderabad,  Lucknow,  Kanpur,  Ghaziabad, Agra, Meerut, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kolkata, Howrah, Faridabad) are identified along the polluted river stretches.

CPCB estimated the sewage generation in Class I & Class-II towns during 2008 and assessed that there was a gap of 27000  MLD  between  the  sewage.    The  sewage  generated  and  treated  and      sewage  generation  is  linked  to  the population growth especially in urban centers. There was a GAP of around 27000 MLD. The updated information on the sewage generation and treatment capacity developed indicates a GAP in treatment of about 38000 MLD during 2015 due to inadequate facility for sewage treatment.

In the 11 Ganga Basin States, the Consortium of IITs have estimated  that 12050 mld of sewage is generated from Class-I &II towns.  7301 mld is generated from the 175 Class I and 102 Class II towns of 5 Ganga basin states on the main  stem  of  river  Ganga  namely,  Uttarakhand,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Jharkhand  and  West  Bengal.  The  available treatment  capacity  is  about  2125  mld.  In  addition,  STPs  for  a  treatment  capacity  of  about  1188  mld  are  under construction / approval, thus leaving a gap of about 3988 mld in this 5 basin states.

Under NGRBA till December 2015, 34 nos. of STPs in Ganga and 03 nos. of STP in Yamuna of total capacity 808.23 MLD have been sanctioned.

CPCB has given directions to Municipal authorities/corporations under section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for treatment and utilization of sewage for restoration of water quality of rivers.

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