India's polluted river stretches fall from 351 to 296 in 7 years: Govt
India's polluted river stretches have fallen from 351 in 2018 to 296 in 2025, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday, citing biochemical oxygen
India's polluted river stretches have fallen from 351 in 2018 to 296 in 2025, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday, citing biochemical oxygen demand as an indicator of organic pollution. In a written reply, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary said the number had first come down to 311 in 2022 before declining further to 296 in 2025, according to the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board. Read Full Story Choudhary said rivers are polluted mainly because of the discharge of untreated or partly treated sewage from cities and towns, industrial effluents, inadequate dilution, dumping of solid waste on riverbanks, agricultural run-off, geogenic effects and other non-point sources of pollution.
He said the CPCB, along with State Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees, monitors river water quality through a network of 2,265 monitoring stations under the Water Quality Monitoring Programme. The minister said the government has spent Rs 11,332 crore under the Namami Gange programme and Rs 1,888 crore under the River Conservation Plan for river pollution abatement, apart from schemes being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. He said no standards have been prescribed specifically for heavy metals in rivers, but parameters such as pH, biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen and faecal coliform are assessed to gauge river pollution.
He also said the CPCB has one Central Water Laboratory in Delhi and eight regional laboratories for analysis of water quality parameters, while state pollution control boards have their own laboratories recognised either by the Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories or under the Environment (Protection) Act. The government told the House that the number of polluted river stretches has declined over the years, while monitoring and pollution-control work continues through central and state agencies and related river-cleaning schemes.
Ends With PTI inputs
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