(a) whether the Ground Water Survey and Development Agency has conducted any survey in the recent past about the levels of ground water in rural Maharashtra particularly in Western Maharashtra regions of the State;
(b) if so, the details thereof, district-wise; and
(c) whether the Government has put in place any road-map to increase the ground water levels in rural Maharashtra and if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)
(a) & (b) As per information received from Maharashtra State Ground Water Survey and Development Agency, the groundwater levels from observation wells were measured by them during October 2021 and January 2022. Further, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the country, including Maharashtra, on a regional scale, through a network of monitoring wells. District-wise depth to water level and distribution of percentage of wells for November 2021 in Maharashtra are given in Annexure I.
(c) Though water is a State subject, Central Government has taken a number of measures for conservation, management of ground water including effective implementation of rain water harvesting in the country, which can be seen at URL:http://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_Feb2021.pdf. Some of the important initiatives in this regard are also given at Annexure II.
Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019 in 256 water stressed districts in the country, including Maharashtra. Further, the campaign “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22 March 2021.
Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR (DoWR, RD & GR) is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), a Rs. 6,000 crore Central Sector Scheme, for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation. Atal Jal is being implemented in 80 water stressed districts and 8,565 Gram Panchayats of seven States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme includes innovative recharge structures including rain water harvesting structures. In Maharashtra, Atal Jal is being implemented in 38 blocks in 13 districts.
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ANNEXURE-I
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3533 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 24.03.2022 REGARDING “SURVEY OF GROUND WATER”.
District wise number &percentage of Wells Showing Depth to Water Level (mbgl) in the State of Maharashtra during November 2021
S. No. Name of District No. of wells Analysed Depth to Water Level (mbgl) Number & Percentage of Wells Showing Depth to Water Level (mbgl) in the Range of
0-2 2-5 5-10 10-20 20-40 > 40
Min Max No % No % No % No % No % No %
1 Ahmednagar 65 0.32 19.51 18 27.7 29 44.6 15 23.1 3 4.6 0 0.0 0 0.0
2 Akola 30 0.75 30.00 8 26.7 10 33.3 4 13.3 5 16.7 3 10.0 0 0.0
3 Amravati 96 0.60 36.00 14 14.6 45 46.9 20 20.8 12 12.5 5 5.2 0 0.0
4 Aurangabad 39 0.80 10.60 10 25.6 21 53.8 7 17.9 1 2.6 0 0.0 0 0.0
5 Beed 53 0.01 8.71 26 49.1 21 39.6 6 11.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
6 Bhandara 38 0.60 7.38 12 31.6 19 50.0 7 18.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
7 Buldana 55 0.01 13.96 23 41.8 18 32.7 6 10.9 8 14.5 0 0.0 0 0.0
8 Chandrapur 71 0.40 10.00 28 39.4 34 47.9 9 12.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
9 Dhule 39 0.60 19.10 11 28.2 19 48.7 6 15.4 3 7.7 0 0.0 0 0.0
10 Gadchiroli 40 0.35 9.55 14 35.0 24 60.0 2 5.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
11 Gondia 24 0.95 10.40 5 20.8 14 58.3 4 16.7 1 4.2 0 0.0 0 0.0
12 Hingoli 31 1.58 11.20 4 12.9 18 58.1 8 25.8 1 3.2 0 0.0 0 0.0
13 Jalgaon 55 0.95 54.70 11 20.0 20 36.4 10 18.2 5 9.1 7 12.7 2 3.6
14 Jalna 45 0.10 12.15 16 35.6 21 46.7 7 15.6 1 2.2 0 0.0 0 0.0
15 Kolhapur 36 0.40 9.90 14 38.9 10 27.8 12 33.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
16 Latur 37 0.20 7.80 11 29.7 17 45.9 9 24.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
17 mumbai city 6 0.80 7.65 3 50.0 2 33.3 1 16.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
18 mumbai suburban 17 0.60 9.10 4 23.5 10 58.8 3 17.6 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
19 Nagpur 152 0.15 22.90 28 18.4 83 54.6 38 25.0 2 1.3 1 0.7 0 0.0
20 Nanded 55 0.97 10.80 14 25.5 34 61.8 6 10.9 1 1.8 0 0.0 0 0.0
21 Nandurbar 26 0.20 20.50 8 30.8 8 30.8 7 26.9 2 7.7 1 3.8 0 0.0
22 Nashik 81 0.05 15.00 34 42.0 32 39.5 8 9.9 7 8.6 0 0.0 0 0.0
23 Osmanabad 35 0.60 7.15 14 40.0 17 48.6 4 11.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
24 Parbhani 37 0.87 9.23 4 10.8 25 67.6 8 21.6 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
25 Pune 52 0.01 12.90 13 25.0 21 40.4 17 32.7 1 1.9 0 0.0 0 0.0
26 Raigad 30 0.01 2.61 22 73.3 8 26.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
27 Ratnagiri 55 0.40 15.45 12 21.8 22 40.0 13 23.6 8 14.5 0 0.0 0 0.0
28 Sangli 40 1.00 10.10 8 20.0 26 65.0 5 12.5 1 2.5 0 0.0 0 0.0
29 Satara 51 0.85 11.30 10 19.6 25 49.0 14 27.5 2 3.9 0 0.0 0 0.0
30 Sindudurg 51 0.20 15.40 16 31.4 14 27.5 16 31.4 5 9.8 0 0.0 0 0.0
31 Solapur 56 0.30 11.25 15 26.8 32 57.1 7 12.5 2 3.6 0 0.0 0 0.0
32 Thane 60 0.20 5.75 30 50.0 27 45.0 3 5.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
33 Wardha 66 0.50 9.40 12 18.2 37 56.1 17 25.8 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
34 Washim 41 0.85 8.05 19 46.3 20 48.8 2 4.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
35 Yavatmal 92 0.30 27.05 21 22.8 56 60.9 14 15.2 0 0.0 1 1.1 0 0.0
Total 1757 0.01 54.70 512 29.1 839 47.8 315 17.9 71 4.0 18 1.0 2 0.1
ANNEXURE-II
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3533 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 24.03.2022 REGARDING “SURVEY OF GROUND WATER”.
Initiatives of central Government for water harvesting
Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019, a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including ground water conditions in the water stressed blocks of 256 districts in India including 8 districts in Maharashtra. In this regard, teams of officers from Central Government along-with technical officers from Ministry of Jal Shakti were deputed to visit water stressed districts and to work in close collaboration with district level officials to undertake suitable interventions.
In addition, Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken up the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) with the theme “Catch the Rain - Where it Falls When it Falls” to cover all the blocks of all districts (rural as well as urban areas) across the country during 22nd March 2021 to 30th November 2021. The campaign was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22 March 2021.
Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 has been prepared by CGWB in consultation with States/UTs which is a macro level plan indicating various structures for the different terrain conditions of the country including Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. The Master Plan - 2020 envisages construction of about 1.42 crore rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the country to harness 185 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM). IFurther, the Master Plan envisages construction of about 57 lakh Rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in Maharashtra to harness 3872 Million Cubic Metre (MCM) of monsoon rainfall.
National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM) is being implemented by CGWB as part of Ground Water Management and Regulation (GWM & R) Scheme, a Central Sector scheme. NAQUIM envisages mapping of aquifers (water bearing formations), their characterization and development of Aquifer Management Plans to facilitate sustainable management of groundwater resources in the country. NAQUIM outputs are shared with States/UTs for suitable interventions. So far, 203249 Sq. KM. has been covered under NAQUIM in Maharashtra against a target of 256529 Sq KM. The balance area is targeted to be completed by Mar 20-23.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has formulated guidelines for the States to adopt measures suitable to local conditions, such as Unified Building Bye Laws (UBBL) of Delhi, 2016, Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016 and Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014, wherein adequate focus has been given on requirement of rainwater harvesting and water conservation measures. As per MBBL, all buildings having a plot size of 100 sq.m. or, more shall mandatorily include the complete proposal of rainwater harvesting. 33 States/ UTs have adopted the features of these Bye Laws including Maharashtra.
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