Parliament Question: Status reports of rivers in the country and Punjab

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3433 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 STATUS REPORTS OF RIVERS IN THE COUNTRY AND PUNJAB 3433. SHRI SANT BALBIR SINGH: Will the Minister of Jal Shakti be pleased to state: (a) whether Government maintains year-wise records, research studies or status reports on rivers and streams of the country specially in the State of Punjab; (b) if so, the details regarding the Budha Darya, Ganga, Yamuna, Sutlej and other rivers since the last five years; and (c) the major causes identified for pollution in these rivers, and the measurable improvements recorded, if any? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY) (a) to (c) Rivers and other water bodies in the country are polluted mainly due to discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents in their respective catchments. Non point sources of pollution like erosion, transportation and sedimentation or rocks, soil, agriculture runoff, and runoff from solid waste dumping sites, etc. also contribute to pollution of rivers Under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in association with Pollution Control Boards/Committees in different States/Union Territories (UTs), have been monitoring the water quality of rivers and other water bodies through a network of 4922 monitoring stations. Of these, 2265 locations are on rivers across the country, inclusive of 66 locations on rivers in Punjab. Based on the said water quality monitoring programme, pollution assessment of rivers and tributaries is carried out by CPCB from time to time. Year wise water quality data of rivers and other water bodies including Budha Nala (Budha Darya), Ganga, Yamuna, Sutlej may be accessed at https://cpcb.nic.in/nwmp-data/. The latest report titled “Polluted River Stretches for Restoration of Water Quality” is published by CPCB in 2025 based on the water quality data of years 2022 and 2023 and is available at https://cpcb.nic.in/reports-3/. As per the CPCB Report of 2025, number of polluted river stretches (PRS) in the country has decreased from 351 in 2018 to 296 in 2025. Further, 149 PRS have been delisted and improvement in water quality is observed in 71 PRS. *****