STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. †*262 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 11.07.2019 REGARDING “SHORTAGE OF WATER” RAISED BY S/SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI and P. RAVEENDRANATH KUMAR, M.Ps
(a) to (e) Ground water levels in various parts of the Country are declining because of continuous withdrawal due to reasons such as increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization & urbanization etc.
Central Ground Water Board is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the Country on a regional scale, through a network of monitoring wells. In order to assess the decline in water level on a long-term basis, Pre-monsoon water level data collected by CGWB during Pre-monsoon 2019 has been compared with the decadal average (2009-2018). Analysis of water level data (Annexure) indicates that about 61% of the wells monitored have registered decline in ground water levels.
The Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country are being periodically assessed jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments. As per the 2017 assessment, out of the total 6881 assessment units (Block/ Taluks/ Mandals/ watersheds/ Firkas) in the Country, 1186 units in 17 States/UTs have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’ where Current Annual Ground Water Extraction is more than Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource.
Hon’ble Prime Minister has written a letter to all sarpanchs on 08.06.2019 regarding the importance of water conservation and harvesting and exhorted them to adopt all appropriate measures to make water conservation a mass movement.
Government of India has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan which is a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including ground water conditions in the water stressed blocks.
Central Government supports construction of water harvesting and conservation works primarily through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana – Watershed Development Component (PMKSY-WDC) and PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop. Under these Schemes, 17,56,207 water conservation and recharging structures have been constructed at an expenditure of Rs. 23,435.67 crore in the last three years.
Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation and artificial recharge to ground water in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility. However, the Central Government has taken up important long term policies initiatives for conservation of ground water and rain water harvesting to recharge ground water in order to control depletion of ground water level in the country which are available at http://mowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_Jun2019.pdf
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Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (e) of Starred Q.No. 262 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 11.07.2019 regarding “Shortage of Water”
State-wise Decadal Water Level Fluctuation with Mean [Premonsoon (2009 to 2018] and Premonsoon 2019]
S. No. Name of State No. of wells Analysed Rise Fall Wells showing no change
No % No % No %
1 Andhra Pradesh 714 194 27 518 73 2 0.3
2 Arunachal Pradesh 18 2 11 16 89 0 0.0
3 Assam 230 111 48 119 52 0 0.0
4 Bihar 619 195 32 419 68 5 0.8
5 Chandigarh 12 4 33 8 67 0 0.0
6 Chhattisgarh 602 237 39 352 58 13 2.2
7 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 18 2 11 16 89 0 0.0
8 Daman & Diu 11 5 45 5 45 1 9.1
9 Delhi 73 36 49 37 51 0 0.0
10 Goa 64 18 28 46 72 0 0.0
11 Gujarat 657 244 37 413 63 0 0.0
12 Haryana 279 94 34 184 66 1 0.4
13 Himachal Pradesh 101 81 80 20 20 0 0.0
14 Jammu & Kashmir 204 86 42 118 58 0 0.0
15 Jharkhand 271 103 38 168 62 0 0.0
16 Karnataka 1098 217 20 881 80 0 0.0
17 Kerala 1427 661 46 762 53 4 0.3
18 Madhya Pradesh 1099 532 48 567 52 0 0.0
19 Maharashtra 1645 401 24 1241 75 3 0.2
20 Meghalaya 53 39 74 14 26 0 0.0
21 Odhisha 1064 730 69 334 31 0 0.0
22 Pondicherry 6 0 0 6 100 0 0.0
23 Punjab 245 74 30 170 69 1 0.4
24 Rajasthan 893 301 34 588 66 4 0.4
25 Tamil Nadu 612 177 29 318 52 117 19.1
26 Telangana 557 188 34 366 66 3 0.5
27 Tripura 75 31 41 44 59 0 0.0
28 Uttar Pradesh 581 157 27 423 73 1 0.2
29 Uttarakhand 42 15 36 27 64 0 0.0
30 West Bengal 358 178 50 177 49 3 0.8
Total 13628 5113 38 8357 61 158 1.2
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