The Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu categorically stated in Rajya Sabha on Monday that the government has taken several steps to stop the discharge of industrial effluents into rivers.
In response to a question from Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma about the discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities and towns and industrial effluents in their respective catchments, the Minister of State for Jal Shakti stated that rivers in the country are primarily polluted due to the discharge of these substances. River pollution is also a result of non-point sources of pollution such as agricultural runoff, open defecation, runoff from solid waste dump sites, etc. The issues have been made worse by rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has determined that currently, there are 2859 GPIs throughout the nation. Out of these, 2197 industries are active, while 662 have independently shut down. 2059 of the 2197 operational industries are in compliance with the set environmental criteria, while 138 are not.
