Parliament Question: Polluting water bodies in Punjab

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 690 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2026 Polluting water bodies in Punjab 690. SHRI SATNAM SINGH SANDHU: Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state: (a) the details of measures being undertaken/planned to address the issue of over 1,200 sources polluting water bodies in Punjab; (b) how the Ministry plans to assist State governments, particularly Punjab, in controlling pollution from industrial, agricultural and domestic sources that are contaminating water bodies; (c) whether there is a timeline for implementation of any cleanup or remediation programmes for polluted water bodies in Punjab and how these would be monitored for effectiveness and if so, details thereof; and (d) the details of steps being taken to ensure better enforcement of pollution control regulations and to hold accountable those responsible for contamination of water bodies? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH) (a) to (c): The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in collaboration with State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) in the States, and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) in Union Territories has established a National Water Quality Monitoring Network (NWMP) in order to regularly assess status of water quality of water resources to facilitate prevention and control of pollution in water bodies. In Punjab, 66 locations on rivers and 23 locations on Lakes & Ponds are being monitored under NWMP. The CPCB has identified polluted river stretches based on the water quality data for rivers with respect to Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) parameter. BOD concentration exceeding 3 mg/l is identified as polluted stretches. The PRS are classified under Priority Class I to V, Priority I being most polluted with BOD value of more than 30 mg/l and Priority V least polluted with BOD ranging between 3 – 6 mg/l. Based on above identification and priority classification criteria, CPCB identified 04 PRS in Punjab in 2018.Table1: The details of PRS identified in Punjab in year 2018 are as below: River Stretch Identified Max BOD (mg/L) Priority Class value Ghaggar Sardulgarh to 380 I Mubarakpur Satluj Rupnagar to Harike 108 I Bridge Kali Bein Sultanpur Lodhi to 9.0 IV conf to Beas Beas Along Mukerian 3.8 V Table 2: The details of PRS identified in Punjab in year 2025 are as below: Max BOD S. No. River Polluted river stretch/ location Priority Class (mg/L) value River Ghaggar from d/s Parwanoo 1. Ghaggar 115 I to d/s Sardulgarh River sutlej from Nangal to Harike 2. Sutlej 140 I bridge, Amritsar Accordingly, clean river action plans for river Sutlej Beas and Ghaggar were prepared by the State Government and the stakeholder departments were allotted with various responsibilities for remediation programs of polluted stretches. For the purpose of rejuvenation of these Polluted River Stretches, all State Governments and UT Administrations have formed River Rejuvenation Committees (RRCs) and the said committee is responsible for developing action plans for the rejuvenation of the PRS identified by CPCB for their respective states/UTs. Progress of implementation of action plans is reviewed by the RRC at state level and Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti at Central Level. With regard to the village ponds, the concerned departments such as Department of Rural Development and Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies are carrying out phase wise implementation of the remediation of these water bodies. (d) For better enforcement of pollution control regulations and to hold accountable those responsible for contamination of water bodies State Government and State Pollution Control Board are making concerted efforts under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Govt. of Punjab vide notification dated 14.07.2025 has constituted a High-Level Committee headed by Minister, Industries & Commerce, Punjab as Chairperson and Chief Secretary, Govt. of Punjab as the Vice-chairperson with members from stakeholder departments (Department of Industries /Science, Technology Environment/Local Govt./Water Resources/PEDA/MC Ludhiana/ DC Ludhiana and expert members from IIT, Ropar and PWSSB as expert members) to oversee and implement comprehensive solution for the rejuvenation and pollution control of Buddha nalah. *******