BHASKAR PADIGALA
Abstract
Cities in India are developing at a faster rate, stimulating ever increasing demand for natural resources, resulting in various environmental & health stresses. One such environmental externality of rapid and haphazard urbanization is urban river pollution. One of the primary reasons for deterioration of river stretches across India is due to uncontrolled disposal of ntreated wastewater, especially domestic sewage disposal from urban areas. Significant difference in the sewage generation & treatment capacities within the cities, owing to increasing wastewater generation and insufficient sewerage and sanitation infrastructures, is leading to disposal of large amount of untreated domestic sewage into the rivers. Thus, there is an urgent need for both policymakers and practitioners to rethink on strategies such as increasing sewerage collection networks, decentralized wastewater treatment and wastewater reuse etc. which could contribute in reducing disposal of wastewater and thereby improving river health in the country