Lok Sabha Question No. 3871 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-16
Subject: Impact of Industrial Pollution on Rivers
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Harendra Singh Malik

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3871 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2026

## Impact of Industrial Pollution on Rivers

## 3871. SHRI HARENDRA SINGH MALIK:

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

- (a) whether the water of the Kali and Hindon rivers in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli has become highly toxic and black due to discharge the waste from paper and steel mills located there;
- (b) whether the Government has imposed any heavy fine on the polluting industries or ordered their closure during the last two years to prevent diseases like cancer and skin ailments caused by the toxic water of these rivers;
- (c) whether the Pollution Control Board has installed machines such as Online Continuous Emission Monitoring  System  (OCEMS)  in  these  mills  which  can  indicate  the  quantum  of  effluents  being discharged into the rivers round-the-clock; and
- (d)  whether  any  special  package has  been  announced  in  the  Budget  2026,  on  the  lines  of  'Namami Gange', for cleaning these rivers to provide safe drinking water to the villages situated along their banks?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

## (a) to (d)

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) regulate air and water quality by enactment of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and notified different Rules, Regulations based on the said acts to implement various Schemes for protection and development of air and water bodies. State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees (SPCBs/PCCs), through Consent mechanism  under  Water  Act,  1974  and  Air  Act,  1981,  monitor  the  establishment  and  operation  of industries and polluting activities through prescription of pollution control measures and monitoring the compliance of environmental standards.

The water quality data under National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWMP) is utilized for identification  of  Polluted  River  Stretches  (PRS)  based  on  the  level  of  organic  matter  which  is measured in terms of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) concentration. Locations/stretches of rivers

which  are  not  meeting  the  Primary  Water  Quality  criterion  for  outdoor  bathing  for  Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) parameter (indicator of organic pollution) are identified as polluted location/ stretches.  The  PRS  are  classified  under  Priority  Class  I  to  Priority  Class  V,  Priority  I  being  most polluted with BOD value of more than 30 mg/l and Priority V being least polluted with BOD ranging between 3-6 mg/l.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at present monitors water quality of aquatic resources in the country in association with the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) at 4922 locations including 2265 locations on rivers and the water quality data is uploaded on CPCB website at https://cpcb.nic.in/nwmp-data/ . Out of these, monitoring of river Kali is carried out at  02  locations  in  Muzaffarnagar  district,  whereas  no  monitoring  locations  of  Hindon  River  are presently situated in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts. Water quality data of river Kali monitored under  NWMP  during  the  year  2024  in  Muzaffarnagar  is  enclosed  as Annexure  I and  found  noncomplying at all locations.

## PRSs identified on river Kali during the year 2018 & 2025 in Uttar Pradesh are:

| Name of the State   | River Name   | Polluted river stretch/location                                   | Priority Class   |
|---------------------|--------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|
| 2018                |              |                                                                   |                  |
| Uttar Pradesh       | Kali         | Muzaffarnagar To Gulaothi Town                                    | I                |
| 2025                |              |                                                                   |                  |
| Uttar Pradesh       | Kali         | River Kali From U/S Of Muzaffarnagar To Gumatiya Village, Kannauj | I                |

## PRSs identified on river Hindon during the year 2018 & 2025 in Uttar Pradesh are:

| Name of the State   | River Name   | Polluted river stretch/location               | Priority Class   |
|---------------------|--------------|-----------------------------------------------|------------------|
| 2018                |              |                                               |                  |
| Uttar Pradesh       | Hindon       | Saharanpur To Ghaziabad                       | I                |
| 2025                |              |                                               |                  |
| Uttar Pradesh       | Hindon       | River Hindon From Saharanpur D/S To Noida D/S | I                |

CPCB organizes  annual  inspection  of  Grossly  Polluting  Industries  (GPIs)  operating  in  river  Ganga main  stem  States  having  potential  to  discharge  into  river  Ganga  &  its  tributaries  by  joint  teams  of officials from third party technical institutes and SPCBs/PCCs since 2017. Year 2020 onwards, GPIs operating in the Yamuna main stem states were also included for annual inspection. Inspection also includes  the  GPIs  discharging  into  river  Kali  (East  and  West)  and  Hindon  in  Muzaffarnagar  and Shamli.

CPCB  has  issued  directions  to  all  GPIs  to  install  Online  Continuous  Effluent  Monitoring  System (OCEMS)  with  real  time  data  connectivity  to  CPCB/SPCBs  for  self-monitoring.  CPCB  issued direction dated 11.03.2021 under section 18(1)(b) of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 to UPPCB, DPCC & HSPCB for installation and connectivity of OCEMS by GPIs. Total 3726 GPIs are located in 7 Ganga and Yamuna main stem States. Out of which, 1779 GPIs have connected

OCEMS, while 1947 GPIs have not installed OCEMS. CPCB issued directions under section 18(1)(b) of  the  Water  (Prevention  and  Control  of  Pollution)  Act.,  1974  for  installation  and  connectivity  of OCEMS  to  1947  GPIs  of  7  SPCBs/PCCs  including  Uttar  Pradesh  (764  GPIs),  Delhi  (121  GPIs), Haryana (974) and Bihar (29) on 24.12.2025 and to Jharkhand (22), West Bengal (6) and Uttarakhand (31) on 06.01.2026.

CPCB  has  mandated  installation  of  Online  Continuous  Effluent/Emission  Monitoring  Systems (OCEMS)  in  17  categories  of  industries  and  common  waste  management/treatment  facilities  to strengthen  environmental  surveillance  and  ensure  continuous  compliance  of  environmental  norms. CPCB also carries  out  surprise  inspection-cum-monitoring  of  17  categories  industries  and  common waste  treatment  facilities,  which  are  selected  randomly  based  on  SMS  alerts,  generated  through OCEMS, installed in these industries. In case of non-compliance, action is taken as per the provisions of the environmental laws, which include issuance of Show cause notice, closure directions, levying of environmental  compensation,  directions  to  take  corrective  measures,  etc.  Further,  stringent  action including levying of deterrent Environmental Compensation on the repeated offenders/violators as per the CPCB guidelines on Environmental Compensation, is taken.

As per information provided by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Ministry of Jal Shakti, there is no special package for these rivers.

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## Annexure I

## Water Quality of River Kali monitored under NWMP during the Year 2024

| Monitoring Location                                | Dissolve d O2 (mg/L)   | Dissolve d O2 (mg/L)   | pH      | pH      | BOD (mg/L)   | BOD (mg/L)   | Fecal Coliform (MPN/100 ml)   | Fecal Coliform (MPN/100 ml)   | Fecal Streptoco cci (MPN/100 ml)   | Fecal Streptoco cci (MPN/100 ml)   | Complianc e Status   |
|----------------------------------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|---------|---------|--------------|--------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|----------------------|
|                                                    | Mi n                   | M ax                   | Mi n    | M ax    | Mi n         | M ax         | Mi n                          | Ma x                          | Mi n                               | Ma x                               | Complianc e Status   |
| Primary Water Quality Criteria for Outdoor Bathing | > 5mg/L                | > 5mg/L                | 6.5-8.5 | 6.5-8.5 | < 3mg/L      | < 3mg/L      | < 2500 MPN/100                | ML                            | < 500 MPN/100 ML                   | < 500 MPN/100 ML                   | Complianc e Status   |
| River Kali at u/s of Muzaffarnagar, UP             | 3.2                    | 3.5                    | 7.2     | 7.7     | 12           | 18           | -                             | -                             | -                                  | -                                  | Non- Complying       |
| River Kali at d/s of Muzaffarnagar, UP             | 0.3                    | 0.3                    | 6.9     | 7.3     | 32           | 38           | -                             | -                             | -                                  | -                                  | Non- Complying       |

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