It is the primary responsibility of States/Union Territories and local bodies to ensure required treatment of sewage and industrial effluents, before discharging into recipient water bodies or land for prevention and control of pollution therein. This Ministry is implementing Namami Gange Program for rejuvenation, protection and management of river Ganga and its tributaries, and National River Conservation Plan for conservation of other rivers in the country to achieve water quality of the designated best use for outdoor bathing.

Under Namami Gange Program, a total of 212 sewerage infrastructure projects involving laying of 5220 km of sewer network and sewage treatment capacity of 6540 million litres per day (MLD) have been taken up. Out of that, 136 projects have been completed resulting creation/rehabilitation of sewage treatment capacity of 3781 MLD. Out of the total expenditure of around Rs. 20,000 crores under Namami Gange Program so far, during last 5 years around Rs.10,500 crore were spent towards implementation of various projects.

NRCP has so far covered 57 rivers in 17 States in the country at a cost of Rs.8970 crore, and total sewage treatment capacity of 2945 MLD has been created in identified towns. An amount of Rs.1677 crore was released during last 5 years under the scheme for implementation of projects.

The schemes of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban under the aegis of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs are also being implemented which are aimed at creating and/or augmenting sewerage infrastructure in identified towns and thus improving water quality of rivers and other water bodies, sanitation systems and water management in those towns.

Cleaning/rejuvenation of rivers is a continuous and dynamic process. As per the last report of CPCB of 2022 on pollution assessment of rivers in the country based on water quality monitoring results, polluted river stretches in the country were reduced to 311 compared to 351 in 2018. Also, 106 river stretches were found no more polluted and improvement in river water quality was observed in 74 stretches. In case of river Ganga, improvement has been observed in the various stretches of the Ganga River as per the CPCB report and Dissolved Oxygen has been found within the acceptable limits and satisfactory to support river ecosystem in its entire stretch. Also, there has been notable increase in population of Dolphins in river Ganga and its presence has been noted in new stretches and rivers of Ganga basin, shows substantial improvement in health of the rivers due to conservation efforts.

The effluent discharge standards stipulated under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 necessitate treatment of domestic waste water from cities/towns before discharging into surface waters, land or public sewerage system. As per the directions of National Green Tribunal in OA No.673/2018, States/UTs have prepared action plans including sewage management in identified cities/towns for restoration of polluted river stretches in their jurisdiction. Implementation of these action plans is reviewed at State level and also at the Central level from time to time.

This information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

MAM/SMP

(Lok Sabha US Q1977)

 

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(Release ID: 2150733)