“We have used about 500 more monitoring stations in our 2016-2017 assessment than for the previous exercise (2008-2012). A priority 1 river may show high pollution but it also means more resources for clean up, whereas a priority 4 can mean achieving a clear river with relatively fewer resources,” he said.

Based on its 2008-2012 evaluation, the CPCB published a report in 2015 and asked States to prepare plans for improving these polluted stretches. Though the information from the 2016-2017 assessment doesn’t indicate improvements, the bulk of the increase in polluted stretches were in priority 4 (6-10 mg/l) and priority 5 river stretches

Currently, the CPCB has 1,822 monitoring stations on rivers and 473 on lakes/ponds/tanks.

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