Lok Sabha Question No. 225 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-07-21
Subject: Pollution in Lakes/Rivers
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: KANWAR SINGH TANWAR, C.R. CHAUDHARY

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 225

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2015

## Pollution in Lakes/Rivers

225.  SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR: SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY:

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

(a) whether the Ministry is aware of the rising pollution level in various lakes and rivers of  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof,  State/UT-wise  including  Rajasthan  and Uttar Pradesh;

(b) the details of agencies involved in the checking of such pollution in the country and their convergence with other agencies in checking pollution;

(c)  the  funds  allocated  and  expenditure  incurred  on  checking  pollution  in  lakes  and rivers since 2011-12 onwards, State-wise;

(d) the details of the lakes and rivers made pollution free so far, State-wise; and

(e)  whether  the  Government  has  formulated  any  plan  to  promote  eco-friendly industries to control pollution in lakes and rivers and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b) The  water  quality  of  rivers,  lakes  &  other  water  bodies  is  regularly monitored by  the Central  Pollution  Control  Board  (CPCB)  in  collaboration  with  State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) through a network of 2500 monitoring stations in 28 States and 6 Union Territories.  This includes 1275 monitoring stations on rivers and 281 monitoring  stations  on  lakes,  tanks  &  ponds,  which  cover  445  rivers  as  well  as  244 lakes, tanks & ponds.

Pollution loads in rivers, lakes and other water bodies has increased over the years due to rapid urbanization, industrialization & discharge of untreated wastewater on account of inadequate treatment facilities.   As per the report published by CPCB in February 2015, 302 polluted river stretches have been identified on 275 rivers based on Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, a key indicator of organic pollution. The  State-wise  number  of  stretches  are-    Maharashtra  (49),    Assam  (28),  Madhya Pradesh  (21),  Gujarat  (20),  West  Bengal  (17),  Karnataka  (15),  Kerala  (13),  Uttar Pradesh (13), Manipur (12), Orissa (12), Meghalaya (10), Jammu & Kashmir (9), Goa

(8), Himachal Pradesh (8), Jharkhand (8), Rajasthan (8), Tamil Nadu (7), Telangana (7),  Andhra  Pradesh  (6),  Bihar  (5),  Chhattisgarh  (5),  Sikkim  (5),  Uttarakhand  (5), Nagaland (3), Haryana (2), Punjab (2), Tripura (2), Daman & Diu (1) and Delhi (1). Also as reported by CPCB, the water quality of 151 lakes, ponds & tanks is exceeding the prescribed limit in terms of BOD, including 4 in Uttar Pradesh and 5 in Rajasthan.

(c) & (d) Conservation of rivers & lakes is a continuous and ongoing process. It is the responsibility of the State Governments/ concerned local bodies to set up proper facilities  for  collection,  transportation  and  treatment  of  sewage  being  generated  and ensure  that  untreated  sewage  does  not  fall  into  the  rivers,  lakes  and  water  bodies thereby polluting them. This Ministry has been supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers  under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and NGRBA (National Ganga River Basin Authority)  programmes.  The  NGRBA  programme  along  with  work  of  Ganga  &  its tributaries is with Ministry of  Water Resources, River  Development  &  Ganga Rejuvenation  from  01/08/2014  onwards.  The  programmes  of  NRCP  &  NGRBA  (till 1/8/2014) have  covered polluted stretches of 42 rivers in 199 towns spread over 21 States at a sanctioned cost of Rs.10955.22 crore so far. Sewage treatment capacity of 5084 million litres per day (mld) has been created so far under these two programmes.

For  conservation  and  management  of  identified  lakes  and  wetlands  in  the country, this Ministry had been earlier implementing two separate programmes, namely National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetland Conservation Programme  (NWCP).    To  have  better  synergy  and  to  avoid  overlap,  both  the programmes have been merged in February, 2013 into a new integrated scheme of National  Plan  for  Conservation  of  Aquatic  Eco-systems  (NPCA).  So  far  projects  for conservation  of  63  lakes  in  14  States  have  been  sanctioned  at  a  total  cost  of Rs.1096.09 crores under the NLCP, and work of 30 lakes has been completed. Under the NWCP, an amount of Rs 138.53 crores has so far been released to the concerned State  Governments  for  undertaking  various  conservation  activities  in  80  identified wetlands.

The details of funds released to various State Governments for implementation of sanctioned works under NRCP/NGRBA & NPCA programmes since 2011-12, Statewise are at Annexure-I & Annexure-II respectively.

(e) To  promote  eco-friendly  industries,  the  Ministry  has  formulated  schemes  to facilitate  and  support  development  and  promotion  of  clean  technology  and  waste minimization  strategy  to  help  small  and  medium  scale  sector,  with  the  primary objective  of  protection  of  environment.  Steps  have  also  been  taken  by  CPCB  to promote low waste and no waste concept leading to Zero Liquid Discharge by grossly water  polluting  industries,  particularly  those  located  on  the  river  banks.  In  addition, eco-friendly technologies have been demonstrated for sectors like pulp & paper, sugar and distilleries, with the emphasis on reuse and recycling to reduce water consumption.

*****

## Annexure-I referred to in reply to parts (c) & (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 225 to be answered on Tuesday, the 21 st July, 2015 on 'Pollution in Lakes/Rivers'.

## Details of funds released under National River Conservation Plan & National Ganga River Basin Authority programmes

| S. No.   | State         | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   |
|----------|---------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|          |               | 2011-12                         | 2012-13                         | 2013-14                         | 2014-15 *                       | 2015-16 (Upto 10 th July, 2015) |
| 1        | Bihar         | --                              | --                              | 91.14                           | --                              | --                              |
| 2        | Jharkhand     | --                              | --                              | 6.26                            | --                              | --                              |
| 3        | Gujarat       | --                              | 41.71                           | --                              | 44.00                           | 7.39                            |
| 4        | Maharashtra   | --                              | 5.07                            | 22.42                           | --                              | --                              |
| 5        | Punjab        | 47.53                           | 45.36                           | 98.04                           | 28.80                           | 12.61                           |
| 6        | Haryana       | --                              | 38.20                           | 10.00                           | 10.46                           | --                              |
| 7        | Odisha        | 5.00                            | --                              | --                              | --                              | --                              |
| 8        | Rajasthan     | 20.00                           | --                              | --                              | --                              | --                              |
| 9        | Delhi         | 34.88                           | --                              | --                              | --                              | --                              |
| 10       | Uttar Pradesh | 70.75                           | 107.31                          | 133.80                          | 30.08                           | --                              |
| 11       | Uttarakhand   | --                              | 11.30                           | 17.05                           | 3.00                            | --                              |
| 12       | West Bengal   | --                              | --                              | 48.90                           | --                              | --                              |
| 13       | Sikkim        | 9.30                            | 21.65                           | 15.00                           | --                              | --                              |
| 14       | Nagaland      |                                 | --                              | --                              | --                              | 10.00                           |
| Total    | Total         | 187.46                          | 270.60                          | 442.61                          | 116.34                          | 30.00                           |

## Annexure-II

## Annexure-II referred to in reply to parts (c) & (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 225 to be answered on Tuesday, the 21 st July, 2015 on 'Pollution in Lakes/Rivers'.

Details of funds released under National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA)

| S.No.   | State           | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   | Funds released (Rs. in crore)   |
|---------|-----------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| S.No.   | State           | 2011-12 (NLCP & NWCP)           | 2012-13 (NLCP & NWCP)           | 2013-14 (NPCA)                  | 2014-15 (NPCA)                  | 2015-16 (upto 10 th July, 2015) |
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh  | 1.90                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            |
| 2       | Maharashtra     | 0.50                            | 0.00                            | 0.40                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 3       | Bihar           | 0.00                            | 0.16                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 4       | Gujarat         | 1.15                            | 0.90                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            | 0.96                            |
| 5       | Haryana         | 0.72                            | 0.67                            | 0.22                            | 0.63                            | 0.28                            |
| 6       | Jammu & Kashmir | 41.13                           | 0.71                            | 30.32                           | 0.00                            | 15.00                           |
| 7       | Karnataka       | 0.00                            | 0.24                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 8       | Kerala          | 0.23                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 9       | Madhya Pradesh  | 0.11                            | 0.60                            | 0.00                            | 2.50                            |                                 |
| 10      | Manipur         | 0.79                            | 0.34                            | 1.32                            | 0.60                            |                                 |
| 11      | Mizoram         | 0.68                            | 1.40                            | 0.52                            | 0.79                            |                                 |
| 12      | Odisha          | 1.69                            | 1.02                            | 0.79                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 13      | Puducherry      | 0.00                            | 0.00                            | 0.24                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 14      | Punjab          | 1.07                            | 0.12                            | 0.38                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 15      | Rajasthan       | 14.74                           | 15.65                           | 0.17                            | 25.66                           |                                 |
| 16      | Sikkim          | 0.48                            | 0.31                            | 0.00                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 17      | Tamil Nadu      | 1.61                            | 1.59                            | 0.59                            | 0.31                            |                                 |
| 18      | Uttar Pradesh   | 21.35                           | 32.21                           | 16.39                           | 5.07                            | 0.17                            |
| 19      | West Bengal     | 5.68                            | 8.23                            | 0.93                            | 0.00                            |                                 |
| 20      | Nagaland        | 0.00                            | 0.00                            | 3.00                            | 1.11                            |                                 |
|         | Total           | 93.83                           | 64.15                           | 55.27                           | 36.67                           | 16.41                           |