Maharashtra Fails to Clean Kanhan and Kolar Rivers Despite Action Plan
Nagpur, India- Despite being told to clean the polluted rivers in the Nagpur division, the Government of Maharashtra has not improved the water quality of the Kanhan and Kolar rivers after five years. In a meeting held in January by the Central Monitoring Committee (CMC), officials expressed disappointment with the lack of progress in cleaning polluted rivers across Maharashtra. The Kanhan and Kolar rivers are classified as Priority III by the Department of Water Resources and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) reported that the pH level of the Kanhan River was the highest in eight years in December 2023, recorded at 8.5. Although the river's Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) level has improved, pollution in the Kolar River has remained high throughout 2023. According to the 2019 Action Plan, the Kanhan River was supposed to reach bathing water quality by 2022, with further improvements by 2023. However, these targets have not been met, and sewage continues to flow into both rivers.
"We are working hard to enforce the rules and have fined local bodies and industries that discharge sewage into the rivers. But local bodies need to take this issue more seriously to meet the government's targets," said Hema Deshpande, Regional Officer of the MPCB, to 'The Hitavada'.
According to the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Maharashtra had 53 polluted river stretches in 2018, which increased to 55 by 2022. The state's sewage generation, initially reported as 9,758 million liters per day (MLD) in 2018, was revised to 8,193 MLD in 2023, and has now increased to 10,547 MLD in 2024. In the review meeting, the CMC also asked the State Government to provide a plan for improving the use of existing Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), with specific timelines.
