Antibiotic resistance in clinical settings has been studied from last few decades but the possibility of development of antibiotic resistance at polluted environmental sites is also of concern. In developing countries, the major source of antibiotic contamination in surface water is improper disposal of effluents from industries, hospitals and domestic waste water treatment plants. The antibiotic pollution combined with other environmental pollution factors exerts selective pressure on environmental microbes, driving evolution and resulting in the spread of antibiotic resistance in a local to global scale. Present study aimed to determine the proliferation of ciprofloxacin resistant bacteria in aquatic environment of a river which is heavily impacted by industrial effluents. Correlation analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic factors. Statistical analysis evaluated the effect of fluoroquinolones, heavy metals, total organic carbon and total nitrogen on the levels of resistant culture in samples from the natural settings. © 2017 CIWEM