Describe the factors that are responsible for the poor condition of India’s rivers – both smaller and big rivers.

The following factors are responsible for the poor condition of India,s rivers –
(a) Smaller rivers: (l) The growing – domestic, municipal, industrial and agricultural demand for water from rivers has affected the quality of water. The volume of rivers has been reduced as more and more water is being drained out of them.
(ll) A heavy load of untreated sewage and industrial effluents are emptied into the rivers. This also affects the self-cleansing capacity of the rivers leading to rising pollution of their water. As a result of above factors, the smaller rivers have all turned into toxic streams.
(b) Big rivers: These rivers have been affected by the following factors –
(i) Population growth
(ii) Agricultural modernisation
(iii) Urbanisation
(iv) Industrialisation: Industries are heavy users of water and also require hydroelectric power to run them. For example in Delhi, a large amount of domestic and industrial waste falls in the Yamuna river that leads to water pollution. Thus even the big rivers like the Ganga and yamuna are far from being pure and efforts are being made to clean the rivers.