Parliament Question: Impact of Industrial Pollution on Rivers

OIH 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 Page 1 of 4which 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 non- complying at all locations. PRSs identified on river Kali during the year 2018 & 2025 in Uttar Pradesh are: Name of the River Name Polluted river stretch/location Priority Class State 2018 Uttar Pradesh Kali Muzaffarnagar To Gulaothi Town I 2025 Uttar Pradesh Kali River Kali From U/S Of I Muzaffarnagar To Gumatiya Village, Kannauj PRSs identified on river Hindon during the year 2018 & 2025 in Uttar Pradesh are: Name of the River Name Polluted river stretch/location Priority Class State 2018 Uttar Pradesh Hindon Saharanpur To Ghaziabad I 2025 Uttar Pradesh Hindon River Hindon From Saharanpur I D/S To Noida D/S 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 Page 2 of 4OCEMS, 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. ***** Page 3 of 4Annexure I Water Quality of River Kali monitored under NWMP during the Year 2024 Fecal Fecal Dissolve Streptoco BOD Coliform d O2 pH cci (mg/L) (MPN/100 Monitoring Location (mg/L) (MPN/100 ml) ml) Complianc Mi M Mi M Mi M Mi Ma Mi Ma e Status n ax n ax n ax n x n x Primary Water Quality > 5mg/L 6.5-8.5 < 3mg/L < 2500 < 500 Criteria for Outdoor MPN/100 MPN/100 Bathing ML ML River Kali at u/s of Non- 3.2 3.5 7.2 7.7 12 18 - - - - Muzaffarnagar, UP Complying River Kali at d/s of Non- 0.3 0.3 6.9 7.3 32 38 - - - - Muzaffarnagar, UP Complying ***** Page 4 of 4