This new CPCB study on water consumption and sewage disposal patterns finds that 70% of the total municipal sewage and effluent from over 900 cities and towns are being discharged untreated into rivers, which are a major source of drinking water.

The status of water supply and sanitation significantly indicate the environmental quality in terms of aquatic pollution load. The CPCB published three reports in three decades on the status of water supply and waste water generation, collection, treatment and disposal in Class-I cities and Class-II towns (1978-79, 1989-90 and 200). This is the fourth report in the series which provides the status of water supply, sewage generation and treatment of 498 Class-I cities and 410 Class-II towns along with the information on 53 coastal Class-I cities and 35 coastal Class-II towns besides Ganga Basin as a separate subsection.