Abstract The vehemence of industrial pollution has been studied along a stretch of effluent discharged canal, the Tamla Rivulet in the industry-intensive town of Durgapur, West Bengal, India. The present study monitors the surface water quality and relates it to the land use / land cover maps using Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques. Middle stretch (industry-rich) and lower stretch of Tamla (confluence area) manifested considerable pollution effects in surface water, ground water quality and agriculture, respectively compared to the upper stretch. The maximally affected lower Tamla region recorded high concentrations of phenolic compounds in ground water and concentrations of fluoride, lead, cadmium and chromium in the drinking water. The calculated industrial hazard index revealed that outfalls of industries in the middle and lower Tamla region exhibited very poor and poor water quality, respectively affecting the overall eco-biological health of the entire zone.