Draft notification on the Standards for 'Primary Water Quality Criteria for Bathing Waters'
The Union government has come out with fresh guidelines to determine quality of water in rivers and other water bodies. The notification, which was issued by the ministry of environment forests and climate change (MoEF), contains 14 points and states the desired levels in each parameter that will be used to determine quality. The notification aims to check if water bodies are fit for bathing. The criteria include points such as fecal coliform, pH value, dissolved oxygen and floating matter among others. The notification stated that "among various types of uses, there is one use that demands the highest level of quality in that stretch. Based on this, water quality requirements have been specified for different uses in terms of 'primary water quality criteria'."