Fouled Waters: River Pollution and the Jojari Case

Why in news?

The Supreme Court pulled up Rajasthan over industrial effluents in the Jojari River, banning construction and hazardous industries near its banks.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims – Luni river system. 

Mains GS3 – Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

The Jojari case 

• Rivers involved – Jojari, Luni and Bandi are seasonal rivers of arid western Rajasthan flowing through Jodhpur, Balotra and Pali districts. Jojari and Bandi are tributaries of the Luni, which drains into the Rann of Kutch.
• Source of pollution – The region is a textile-dyeing and steelworking hub. Untreated or partly treated effluents flow straight into the rivers and soil. Illegal sand mining in riverbeds adds to the damage.
• State failure – The problem was flagged by a PIL in the Rajasthan High Court as early as 2011. Officials regularised leases in areas of known illegal mining, and now the Supreme Court indicated the State itself could be held liable under the polluter pays principle.
• Court action – The  Court took up a suo motu petition in 2025 and set up a High-level Ecosystem Oversight Committee under Justice Sangeet Lodha. Based on its reports, the Court banned construction within 100 m of river edges and hazardous industries within 500 m.

River pollution 

River pollution means the entry of sewage, chemicals, solid waste or other substances into a river in a way that changes its physical, chemical or biological quality and makes it unsafe for people, animals and aquatic life.

• Key indicators – Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), faecal coliform and pH. CPCB treats a river stretch as polluted when BOD exceeds 3 mg/l (bathing water criteria).
• Scale – CPCB’s 2022 assessment identified 311 polluted river stretches on 279 rivers across 30 States/UTs. Maharashtra had the highest number.
• Sewage gap – As per CPCB (2021), urban India generates about 72,368 MLD of sewage, but installed treatment capacity covers only around 44% and actual treatment is close to 28%.
• Disproportionate stretches – The 22 km Delhi stretch of the Yamuna is less than 2% of its length but carries roughly three-fourths of its pollution load.

Causes of river pollution in India

• Untreated domestic sewage – The single largest source. Most towns lack full sewer networks, and open drains such as the Najafgarh drain (Delhi) empty directly into rivers.
• Industrial effluents – Textile dyeing, tanneries, distilleries, sugar, pulp and paper, pharma and steel units release dyes, chromium and other heavy metals. Small units often bypass CETPs (Common Effluent Treatment Plants)to save costs.
• Agricultural runoff – Excess fertilisers and pesticides cause nutrient loading and eutrophication, especially in Punjab, Haryana and the Gangetic plains.
• Low flow and dilution – Dams, diversions and groundwater extraction reduce flow. Seasonal rivers like the Jojari carry almost pure effluent in the dry months.
• Floodplain encroachment and sand mining – These destroy riverbeds and wetlands that naturally clean water (e.g., Mithi in Mumbai, Yamuna floodplains).
• Cultural practices – Plastic dumping, idol immersion and half-burnt bodies add to the load in many cities.
• Weak regulation – State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) face staff shortages, poor monitoring and political pressure. Consents are renewed without proper checks and penalties are rarely recovered.

Polluted rivers across India – some examples

Impacts

• Health – Waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, typhoid and hepatitis; heavy metals in groundwater and food chain linked to skin disease and cancer risk.
• Agriculture and livelihoods – Polluted water used for irrigation damages soil fertility. Fishing communities and farmers downstream lose income.
• Biodiversity – Low DO kills fish and threatens species like the Gangetic river dolphin and gharial.
• Social justice – The poorest, who depend directly on rivers and shallow wells, bear the heaviest cost.

Legal and institutional framework

Important judgments

• Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India (1996) – Palar river tanneries; polluter pays and precautionary principle declared part of the law of the land.
• M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath (1997) – Public trust doctrine; rivers and natural resources are held by the State in trust for the public.

Government initiatives

• Namami Gange (2014-15) – Integrated Ganga conservation; uses Hybrid Annuity Model for STPs so that private operators are paid on performance.
• National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) – Central assistance for pollution abatement in rivers other than the Ganga basin.
• AMRUT 2.0 – Sewerage and septage management and reuse of treated water in cities.
• CETPs (Common Effluent Treatment Plants), Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) and OCEMS (Online Continuous Emission / Effluent Monitoring Systems) – Shared treatment for small units; ZLD norms for grossly polluting industries; OCEMS linked to CPCB servers.
• River Cities Alliance (2021) – Platform for river cities to prepare Urban River Management Plans.

Challenges

• Infrastructure without use – STPs and CETPs are built but run below capacity due to poor sewer connections, power costs and lack of O&M funds.
• Weak and captured regulators – SPCBs lack staff and technical members; the Jojari case shows possible collusion between officials and industry.
• Poor enforcement of compensation – NGT orders are often stayed or not recovered, as with the 2022 NGT compensation on RIICO and local bodies.
• Fragmented responsibility – Urban bodies, industry departments, SPCBs and water departments work in silos.
• Small and informal units – Dyeing and electroplating units in clusters cannot afford ZLD and often operate unregistered.
• Courts replacing regulators – Repeated judicial committees and directions fill the gap temporarily but do not fix the regulatory system itself.

Strategies needed 

• Treat and reuse sewage – Make treated water a resource. Surat supplies tertiary treated sewage to industries, and Nagpur sells treated water to the Koradi thermal plant. The National Framework on Safe Reuse of Treated Water (2022) should be adopted by all States.
• Make CETPs actually work – Mandatory pipeline connection for every unit in a cluster, real-time OCEMS data in the public domain, and third-party audits. Tiruppur moved to Zero Liquid Discharge after the Madras High Court ordered closure of dyeing units in 2011.
• Strengthen SPCBs – Fill vacancies, appoint technical experts, give financial autonomy and fix personal accountability of officials for negligence.
• Enforce polluter pays strictly – Quick recovery of environmental compensation and use of that money for river restoration, not general budgets.
• Protect floodplains and flows – Notify river zones, ban hazardous units near banks (as in Jojari), maintain e-flows and enforce the Sand Mining Enforcement and Monitoring Guidelines, 2020.
• Nature-based solutions – Constructed wetlands, bioremediation of drains and riparian buffers, as tried at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park in Delhi.
• River basin approach – One authority for the whole basin instead of city-wise projects, with Urban River Management Plans.
• People’s participation – Ganga Praharis and local river committees can act as watchdogs; citizen water-quality reporting through apps.
• Learn from global practice – The Rhine Action Programme (1987) and Singapore River clean-up (1977-87) show that coordinated planning, strict industrial control and long-term funding can revive dead rivers.

Conclusion

India does not lack laws or schemes for clean rivers. The real gap lies in enforcement and accountability. The Jojari case shows that unless regulators are made to do their job, courts will keep stepping in and rivers will keep dying. Clean rivers need working treatment plants, honest regulators and active citizens together.

Practice MCQ

Q1. Consider the following statements regarding the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024:

1. It replaced imprisonment with monetary penalties for several offences under the Act.
2. It applies automatically to all States from the date of its commencement.
3. It empowers the Central Government to exempt certain categories of industrial plants from obtaining consent of the State Board.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Answer: (b)

Explanation: Statement 2 is incorrect. Since water is a State subject, the Act applied first to Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Union Territories. Other States can adopt it by passing a resolution under Article 252.

Q2. Consider the following pairs:

How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

Answer: (c)

Explanation: Pair 4 is incorrect. The Vrishabhavathi flows through Bengaluru and is polluted by sewage and industrial waste. Pune lies on the Mula-Mutha rivers.

Mains Practice Question

“River pollution in India is less a problem of missing laws and more a problem of failed enforcement.” In light of the recent Supreme Court intervention on the Jojari river, discuss the major causes of river pollution in India and suggest measures to strengthen the regulatory framework. (15 marks, 250 words)

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