Rajasthan: Indira Gandhi Nahar water is polluted, says minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Category : Water Pollution |
Location : Rajasthan | Posted on 2021-08-04 00:31:58
Jaipur: Jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has confessed that stretches of Satlej and Beas rivers that provide water to the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP) are polluted mainly due to the discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities.
The admission was part of the reply to a question on IGNP by Rajya Sabha MP Rajendra Gehlot in the Parliament on Monday. The IGNP provides water, including drinking water, to 13 districts in the state. It comes contrary to claims made by the local administration of finding no pollutants from regularly collected samples from the IGNP.
The reply says that based on the pollution assessment of rivers carried out by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in September 2018, 351 polluted stretches were identified on 323 rivers based on Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), an indicator of organic pollution. It includes one stretch each on Satluj and Beas rivers as well as Kali Bein (a tributary of Beas) in Punjab, which confluence upstream of Harike Barrage from where Rajasthan Feeder/Indira Gandhi Canal and Ferozpur Feeder gets water from.
The report further quotes the CPCB report of June 2021 says that BOD in Indira Gandhi Canal water ranges between 2.5 - 4.1 milligram per litre (mg/l) against the DBU criteria of less than 3 milligrams per litre (mg/1). “It requires conventional treatment and disinfection to make it suitable for drinking purposes,” reads the reply, making it clear that water being flown in the IGNP is not fit for drinking. It provides drinking water to1.75 crore people spread in 10 districts in 7500 villages. The project has a holding capacity of 18500 Cusecs of water. The state has been contending that since the project deals with three states--Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, it becomes the duty of the central government to intervene in issues related to the project.
Shekhawat in the reply, pass on the onus of cleaning rivers on the states and the local bodies to fight pollution. “They have to ensure the required treatment of sewage and industrial effluents to the prescribed norms before discharging into water bodies,” said the reply, which reminded the states of the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) regarding polluted river stretches in the country, including these on rivers Satluj and Beas.
“The states/UTs are required to implement approved action plans for the restoration of the said stretches in their jurisdiction within the stipulated timelines,” said the reply.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/indira-gandhi-nahar-water-is-polluted-says-shekhawat/articleshowprint/85022512.cms
