Water quality improves, 4 Bengal rivers go out of central board's pollution list

KOLKATA: Four major rivers in Bengal were excluded from the the Central Pollution Control Board's draft report on country's most polluted river stretches after marked improvement in water quality.
"We are happy that Kaljani, Karola, Mayurakashi and Silabati were excluded from the list of critically polluted river stretches in India. Six more river stretches are expected to be de-listed shortly," said state environment minister Manas Bhunia.
According to the draft report, six Bengal rivers - Dwarka, Damodar, Barakar, Darakeswar, Rupnarayan, and Teesta - featuring prominently on the list in 2018 and 2022, have now been categorized as "Priority-V", the least polluted category, and are expected to be removed from the list soon.
Bengal had 17 such polluted river stretches, with Vidyadhari being the most polluted among them. After excluding five rivers, the list has now shortened to 12. "Most significantly, the water quality of the Ganga has also shown improvement," Bhunia said.