In a study by the Central Pollution Control Board, the Bharalu and Kolong rivers of Assam have featured among 71 most polluted in the country. In the North-East, the Kharkhala in Meghalaya also figures in the list. While the enlisting does give us a wake-up call, we hardly require a study to gauge the amount of pollution the river Bharalu has been experiencing. Every day, the river carries large quantities of sewage discharged from the city drains and thus is getting polluted to an unprecedented level. The story of the Elenga beel system of the Kolong river isn't any different. While the enlisting draws our attention to the ever-growing problem, it would be foolhardy to assume that the problem is any less dangerous in other rivers of Assam. Almost all the rivers in the Brahmaputra basin today carry highly polluted water, largely due to human negligence and lack of awareness and concern for the environment. The pollution is depriving the rivers of their natural filtering mechanism. Industrial effluents are one of the biggest worries. Rivers like Dikhow, for instance, are bearing the brunt of oil-field effluents. A bitter truth is that immersion of puja idols also increases toxicity in rivers to a great extent. In October last, the Pollution Control Board, Assam had directed all the DCs to take steps under the provisions of the Water Act 1974 and Environment Protection Act 1986, to ensure that idol structures are collected within 24 hours of immersion. It is doubtful whether the instruction was followed in the right spirit. Unless everyone, at all possible levels, does not contribute to protecting the rivers and devise ways to prevent or at least bring down the level of pollution, a permanent solution to the problem will never be found. A few NGOs, from time to time, do come forward to highlight the acute environmental and health hazards being caused by the river pollution. The unsanitary conditions that the pollution is creating, apart from the high bacterial content, are leading to public health crises. It is probably due to rising toxicity that the number of river dolphins (Sihu) is also fast declining in the State. All in all, the solution lies in tackling the sources and factors causing pollution. There should be regular scientific investigations and an efficient monitoring mechanism to assess the toxicity in all the State rivers. In Assam, polluting industrial units should be identified and targets fixed to adopt strict pollution control measures. The industrial units must be persuaded to adopt cleaner technologies and operate the treatment plants. The progress must also be regularly monitored. It is not understood why neither Assam nor Meghalaya has been sanctioned any Central fund under the National River Conservation Plan. It is expected that the Centre would adopt a balanced and holistic approach so as to resolve the problem of river pollution in the region.