Just 28 per cent of about 20,236 million liters per day urban wastewater generated in India undergoes treatment, leaving the remaining i.e. 72 per cent untreated and flowing into rivers, lakes, and land, a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has revealed.
The largest gap in wastewater treatment is seen in states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Haryana.
The untreated water not only causes environmental damage but also presents an opportunity to tackle India’s growing urban water crisis due to rapid urbanization, industrial growth, population expansion, and climate change, says the report ‘Waste to Worth: Managing India’s urban water crisis through wastewater reuse.’ It was released recently at a national workshop organized jointly by CSE and the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Speaking on the occasion, Sunita Narain, director general, CSE said: “India faces significant water scarcity challenges due to rapid urbanisation, industrial growth, population expansion – and most importantly -- climate change. Wastewater reuse can be a key part of the strategy to address these concerns and promote water circularity and sustainability.”
Rajiv Kumar Mital, director general, NMCG echoed similar views and said that “Using and disposing treated water, without harnessing its potential, means we are losing out on utilising an important resource. The challenge is to scale up and ensure that the work we do in this sector is impactful.”
The Jal Shakti Ministry has mandated that cities must recycle and reuse at least 20 per cent of the water they consume.
The report also highlights good examples -- cases of states that have introduced policies to encourage treated wastewater reuse.” Maharashtra, for instance, mandates industries in urban areas to use treated wastewater. Gujarat targets 100 per cent reuse with applications in agriculture and industry, and Tamil Nadu promotes reuse for industrial and urban greening projects.
At the national level, the National Urban Sanitation Policy (NUSP) and the Namami Gange Programme emphasise wastewater management and reuse as key components of water security initiatives. Cities like Nagpur, Benguluru and Chennai have taken the lead in implementing wastewater reuse practices.
Nagpur supplies treated wastewater to power plants, significantly reducing freshwater usage, while Benguluru utilises it for agriculture, lake revival and groundwater recharge. Chennai has adopted treated wastewater for industrial applications, urban landscaping and groundwater recharge.
While advancements in decentralised and cost-effective treatment technologies can address infrastructure deficits, the report also calls for public-private partnerships that can help mobilise investments for scaling up reuse projects, and capacity-building initiatives to improve awareness and acceptance among urban managers and communities.
