Water quality scenario of Indian rivers

Clean, safe, and adequate freshwater is vital to the survival of all living organisms and the smooth functioning of ecosystems, communities, and economies. But the quality of the world's water is increasingly threatened as human populations grow, industrial and agricultural activities expand, and as climate change threatens to cause major alterations of the hydrologic cycle. Poor water quality threatens the health of people and ecosystems, reduces the availability of safe water for drinking and other uses, and limits economic productivity and development opportunities. Almost 70% of India's surface water resources have become contaminated due to the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents. The Central Water Commission and Central Pollution Control Board are monitoring all rivers in India. water quality monitoring data collected by CWC and CPCB indicates that organic pollution is predominant and almost all the surface water sources are contaminated to some extent by the coliform group of bacteria, which makes them unfit for human consumption. The rivers grossly polluted in specific stretches are the Sabarmati, Godavari, Sutlej, Yamuna, Cauvery, Ganga, Krishna, Tapi, Mahanadi and Brahamani.