190 of 1,080 industries polluting Ganga shut down, says govt

The Centre on Monday said of the 1,080 industries causing pollution in Ganga in five states, 190 have been closed while 165 are still not complying with norms.

Of the 165, closure orders have been issued to nine and show-cause notices has been served to 156 grossly polluting industries, it said.

Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu said about 280.17 million litres per day (MLD) effluents is being discharged into river Ganga main stem having BOD load of 9.68 tons per day.

According to the inventorization of 2020-21, 1,080 Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) operating in five river Ganga main stem states namely Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal were inventoried in consultation with concerned state pollution control boards, Tudu said in a written response.

Inspection of GPIs were carried out during October 2020 to March, 2021 through technical institutes (TPIs) and action on inspection reports were taken by concerned SPCBs.

Of 1,080 GPIs in river Ganga, 725 were found complying, 165 were non-complying and 190 GPIs were closed. Among the 165 non-complying GPIs, concerned state pollution control boards issued closure directions to nine and show-cause notices to 156 GPIs, the minister said.