NEW DELHI, Jul 30 (NNN-PTI) – The Indian government, yesterday said, the country has 351 polluted river stretches.
According to the federal ministry of water resources, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in association with the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committee (PCC) have been monitoring water quality of rivers and other water bodies in the country, through a network of monitoring stations, under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme.
“Based on water quality monitoring results, pollution assessment of rivers has been carried out by CPCB, from time to time. Rivers in the country are polluted due to discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents, in their respective catchments, problems in operation and maintenance of sewage/effluent treatment plants, lack of dilution and other non-point sources of pollution,” the ministry said, “Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation have compounded the problem.”
The ministry said, based on monitoring results, in terms of Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), an indicator of organic pollution, until 2018, the polluted river stretches identified by CPCB from time to time are 351.
“The 351 polluted river stretches have been categorised into five Priority Classes, based on BOD levels,” the ministry said.– NNN-PTI
