In addition to Lucknow, Gola Gokaran Nath, Misrikh, Neemsar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur Kerakat and Jaunpur, Zafarabad are the most prominent of the 20 towns in the river's catchment basin.

[4] The major sources of pollution are industrial waste and effluent from sugar factories and distilleries and residential wastewater and sewage.

The river and its tributaries, such as Kukrail Drainage,[5] collect large amounts of human and industrial pollutants as they flow through an area of about 18 million people.

[10] Around 2012, the newly-elected government and the Lucknow Development Authority began a feasibility study with the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee to build a river-front similar to Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad.

[8] The plan was given to the irrigation department, which signed a memorandum of understanding with IIT Roorkee in December 2015 to conduct a similar study on the project.

[8] Monsoon flooding leads to several problems when the water recedes, including the danger posed by drying potholes and pits (which host disease causing mosquitoes such as malaria and dengue).