Maharashtra has the maximum number of polluted river stretches in the country followed by Assam and Gujrat, the Environment Ministry said today.
"302 polluted river stretches have been identified on 275 rivers based on Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand levels, a key indicator of organic pollution," Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
As per the ministry's data, 49 polluted stretches have been identified in Maharashtra, 28 in Assam and 20 in Gujarat.
The minister said it is the responsibility of the state government to set up proper facilities for collection, transportation and treatment of sewage being generated and ensure that untreated sewage does not fall into the rivers.
"The ministry has been supplementing efforts of the state governments in abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers under National River Conservation Plan and National Ganga River Basin Authority programmes.
"They have covered polluted stretches of 42 rivers in 199 towns spread over 21 states at a sanctioned of Rs 10955.00 crore so far," he said.
