The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), with special emphasis on the role of Pollution Control Board of Assam (PCBA), paints a grim picture on environmental degradation in the Greater Guwahati Area. The report says that levels of dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand and total coliform levels in the Bharalu and other rivers in the city is beyond the stipulated criteria, indicating severe organic pollution. It also said that the water of the Brahmaputra is not fit to drink even after traditional treatment as total coliform (TC) level is far above the standard norm. The CAG report (Report No. 3 of 2016) on environmental degradation in the Greater Guwahati area was tabled in the Assam Assembly on July 25, 2016. The report says: “The dissolved oxygen, bio-chemical demand and total coliform levels in the Bharalu river were beyond the stipulated criteria, indicating severe organic pollution, and the river water had reached a stage where no aquatic organism can survive.” According to the report, although the river has been categorized by the CPCB among the 35 most polluted river stretches in the country in terms of water quality criteria, the PCBA has failed to prepare a report and action plan as directed by the CPCB. Audit obtained and analysed the test reports (2010-2014) of the water samples of the major rivers/ponds of Guwahati taken from the Brahmaputra, Deepor Beel, Bharalu, Borsola, Sorusola and Silsaku Beel, Dighali Pukhuri and Soubhagya Kunda Pukhuri at Kamakhya Temple by the PCBA. Analysis of the test reports said that the dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand and total coliform levels of the Bharalu river are far beyond the stipulated criteria indicating severe organic pollution, and the river water has reached a stage where no aquatic animal can survive. According to the report, the CPCB has long been categorized by it among the 35 most polluted river stretches in the country, and in 2005 it has asked the PCBA to prepare an inventory of polluting sources, the extent of pollution control requirements and an action plan to control the pollution. However, even after a decade the PCBA has not come up with a detailed project report. In case of the Deepor Beel, the mean value of biochemical oxygen demand was well above the criteria during 2010-2014 indicating severe organic pollution in the Ramsar site. However, the PCBA did not formulate any plan to address it, the report said. In its reply in April 2016, the PCBA said that the biochemical oxygen demand was near the criteria value. “It doesn’t establish pollution but occasional degradation,” the PCBA said. The CAG said that the reply was not tenable as the PCBA’s quarterly monitoring reports itself showed that the biochemical oxygen demand level was above the criteria during 2010-14. What is even more surprising is that the water of the Brahmaputra is not fit for drinking even after traditional treatment as total coliform (TC) level is far above the standard norm, the CAG report said. Incidentally, the samples for analysis were collected from Kacharighat, which is the intake point of the city’s water supply. In its reply the PCBA said in April 2016 that the water quality of the Brahmaputra had not shown any deteriorating trend, and mere 1 or 2 higher values on one or two occasions could not be regarded as deteriorating. “Such isolated cases may be regarded as incidental,” it said.