The Krishna River (length 1400 km; basin area 26 mha) originates near Mahabaleshwar (1,337m) and traverses through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
The total domestic pollution load in its basin is 1,433 tons/day (50.6 per cent rural and 49.4 per cent urban). Of the total urban BOD load 707.82 tons/day) 22.4 percent is contributed by the industries amongst which mention may be made of the Pimpri Chinchwada New Corporation (Pune), Harihar Polyfibres Ltd. (Dharwar), Mysore Paper Mill (Bhadravati), Vishveswarya Iron and Steel Ltd. industrial complex at Rangareddy (AP) and distilleries in Vijayawada. Besides, the agricultural runoff from the annual consumption of 7,941 tones of pesticides adds 120 mg/1 of nitrogen, 26 mg/1 of phosphorous and 31 mg/1 of potassium to the river.