Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

Water Pollution in India

share icon
share icon

In this growing and developing world there is growing pollution  too which though we think that its negligible but its not. There are many types of pollution one amongst them is water pollution and its a major environmental issue in india. Unthreatened sewage is one of the major reasons for water pollution. Small scale industries and agricultural runoff are the other major reasons behind it. Solid untreated waste sewage is also the reason.

The surface and groundwater which is considered fit for drinking is now getting affected by the sewage which is untreated and a study in 2007 had research on its well.

There is a difference between the treatment of domestic wastewater in 

India and generation but the proper treatment is not only the problem but the running existing programme also which is not monitored.

The government-owned sewage treatment plains also remains closed for most of the time due to poor maintenance or improper design or lack of reliable electricity supply to operate the plants along with absentee employees and management.

In these areas the wastewater generated is percolated into the soil or evaporates.in urban areas the waste water starts to accumulate causing unhyginity.


Most Polluted River in India

There are many rivers that are getting polluted due to waste or solid waste that affects water bodies like river effect severely. Few of the major rivers like ganga and yamuna and many are affected very badly due to human activities which causes pollution in rivers.

Ganga is the river alongside which many peoples live and around 2000000 peoples bath, as it’s considered as the holy river of Hindus which is very unhealthy and risky for the people.

The Yamuna is another holy river which is popularly known for pollution caused in Delhi as estimated in 2012. It contained 7500coliform bacteria per 100cc of water.

To increase community population and decentralized water management india has revised national water policy in 2002. The country's bureaucracy ensures that it remains a mere state of intent.


River Pollution in India

The other most coliform polluted water bodies are Ganga, Yamuna, Yamunotri, Chambal, Mahi , Vardha and godavari.the coliform must be below 104mpn/100ml is absent from water for it to be considered fit for drinking water and general human use and for irrigation.

47 percent of water qualifying monitoring reported that coliform concentration  is above 500mpn/100.water monitoring station reported a coliform level above levels suggestions recent programme for infrastructure and upgrade treatment plant in India may be reversing the water pollution.


Introduction to Water Pollution in India

Contamination of water bodies such as rivers, lake groundwater etc is known as water pollution . WHO in 1992 had reported that 3119 towns and cities just 209 had partial water facilities. Downstream, the river water is getting polluted due to the untreated water used for drinking , bathing and washing.

But there are solutions to these problems as well like the water conservation in India is gaining place . some of the initiatives like yamuna cleanups are taking place.

Efforts are taken to clean the Cooum,Adyar rivers in Chennai by the Chennai river restoration trust.


Water Pollution  Problems in India

Pollution itself is a great problem for human beings and if it’s due to human beings plus water pollution then it’s even more difficult  to sustain for a longer period of time. Water pollution problems are caused due to many things that are listed below:

Human activities: throwing waste water into pure water bodies make them polluted eg. detergent water is even more harmful for not only humans but animals who are totally dependent on these sources only.

Industrial waste: many mega cities(prayagraj, kanpur, varanasi,delhi,mumbai) have a lot of factories and industries which releases a lot of pollutants in the form of liquid and air pollution also.

Dams and pumping waste and religious wastes also contribute to pollution of water bodies.


Water Pollution Issues in India

Water is one of the main sources of human sustainability. There is 71% water which earth occupies and only 2.5% is used in drinking and other using purposes. Which is quite less amount to be used by crores of people. Water is not just used in drinking but mostly in everything even our body is made up of 70%of water. it’s used in household purposes like drinking and agricultural practices like irrigation etc etc. humans are using water promptly but they don’t realise its importance thats why now its becoming hard to get good water quality. The reason behind these all is also human activities construction activities in rivers causes rivers polluted and the industrial waste water which is released into it and several human waste discharge  ,whose tributaries somehow reaches farmers and that  toxicated water is then used by farmers in croups. It anyhow returns back to humans and makes it unhygienic and unfit to drink and even at times causes different hazardous diseases.

India health authorities have also taken different limited actions in tackling the public health impeding . Waste water undergoes any sort of treatment before being  discharged which is sent to a wretched stream of industrial effluent which contains  heavy metals and toxic effluent and this is with only 30% of water. Recognition of the water crisis is necessary for present human beings and the future generation to come.

Want to read offline? download full PDF here
Download full PDF
Is this page helpful?
like-imagedislike-image

FAQs on Water Pollution in India

Q1. How has water pollution affected India?

Ans: There is a lack of sanitation  facilities and toilets in india which causes open defecation in rural areas and urban pill areas of india like many developing countries this is the source if surface water pollution in india or world 38354million  liters of major pollutants are produced from cities in india.  

Q2. How can we stop Water Pollution?

Ans: We can be turning sewage water into drinkable water.

We can use floating wetlands to make water bodies-pollution free

We can do purification of groundwater

Q3. What are the effects of Water Pollution?

Ans: Water pollution endangers not only humans but aquatic life also, flora fauna , on drinking water supplies ,food chain disruption etc etc.

Q4. How do Humans pollute Water Bodies?

Ans: Human activities like industrialization, domestic waste discharge ,bathing activities ,toile usage etc ,radioactive wastes , pesticides fertilizers etc.

Q5. Who is most affected by Pollution of Water Bodies?

Ans: Majorly the aquatic life ,small organisms  like fishes ,crab etc that are killed due to water pollution they are most affected.