THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) As per the Water Bodies mapped on India- WRIS portal, total number of water bodies in the country are 7,98,908 (size more than 0.01 Ha). Further, as per the 5th Minor Irrigation Census conducted by this Ministry, there are 5,16,303 water bodies in the rural areas of the country being used for minor irrigation, out of which 53,396 are not in use for various reasons such as non availability of water, less and erratic rainfall, siltation, salinity etc.
(b) Works related to water resources development & management are planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Governments themselves as per their own resources and priorities. In order to supplement the efforts of the State Governments, Government of India provides technical and financial assistance to State Governments to encourage sustainable development and efficient management of water resources through various schemes and programmes.
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Central Assistance (CA) for restoration of water bodies is provided by the Ministry under the scheme of Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies, which is a component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). The scheme aims at restoring the lost irrigation potential by improvement and restoration of existing water bodies. The restoration of water bodies also helps in ground water recharge.
Under the RRR of Water Bodies scheme, a total of 2219 water bodies with an estimated cost of Rs.1910.68 crore have been taken up for restoration in various states since XII Plan onwards as per eligible proposals received from the concerned State Governments, out of which 1160 water bodies have been reported to be completed upto March, 2019. Total Central Assistance amounting to Rs.369.11 crore has been released to the States upto March, 2019 for completion of works of these water bodies. Further, such works are undertaken through MGNREGA also.
States-wise detail of works carried out under RRR of Water Bodies Scheme and MGNREGA are at Annexure – I.
(c) Initiatives on water management including conservation and artificial recharge to ground water comes under the purview of concerned State Government. However, Central Government is also taking several measures towards sustainable management of ground water resources in the country. Some of the key ground water management initiatives taken by the Central Government are given at Annexure-II.
(d) to (e) Matter related to encroachment of water bodies comes under purview of the concerned State Government. However, considering the importance of water bodies for socio economic development, Secretary (WR, RD & GR) vide letter dated 26.02.2016 requested State Governments to take necessary steps for keeping all the water bodies encroachment free. Further, Secretary (WR, RD & GR) vide letter dated 07.11.2016 requested the State Governments to take appropriate action in respect of inclusion of water bodies in land records, inclusion of water bodies as integral part of town planning process, strict action for the encroachers, etc.
Further, water bodies are included under RRR of Water Bodies scheme only after concerned State Government certify that these are encroachment free.
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ANNEXURE-I
Annexure referred to in reply of Part – (b) of Unstarred Question No. †1764 to be answered on 28.11.2019 in Lok Sabha regarding “Restoration of Water Bodies”.
States-wise details of works carried out under RRR of Water Bodies Scheme and MGNREGA
S No. State Works completed under MGNREGA (last 5 years) RRR of Water Bodies (XII Plan onwards)
Ponds WELLS Renovation of traditional water bodies CA Released
(in crore) Completed Water Bodies
1 ANDAMAN & NICOBAR 79 1 24
2 ANDHRA PRADESH 630839 45358 81473 2.70
3 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 1043 67 84
4 ASSAM 12056 1141 2164
5 BIHAR 12981 2778 6726 6.26
6 CHHATTISGARH 62470 10553 23031
7 GOA 14 4 320
8 GUJARAT 16035 4795 20322 8.81
9 HARYANA 1643 830 2172
10 HIMACHAL PRADESH 50827 1726 3013
11 JAMMU AND KASHMIR 3565 2824 4825
12 JHARKHAND 264966 63921 9224
13 KARNATAKA 93503 27279 35940
14 KERALA 19787 29404 87425
15 LAKSHADWEEP 0 0 2
16 MADHYA PRADESH 91416 133743 11693 37.70 121
17 MAHARASHTRA 30199 106616 12493
18 MANIPUR 1134 169 295 10.37
19 MEGHALAYA 2147 364 913 5.18 4
20 MIZORAM 7223 889 543
21 NAGALAND 1254 125 113
22 ODISHA 36785 8062 23815 110.65 715
23 PUDUCHERRY 74 0 2157
24 PUNJAB 211 879 12141
25 RAJASTHAN 111846 15625 18454 50.23 52
26 SIKKIM 67 50 5
27 TAMIL NADU 42202 4488 161290 16.25 104
28 TELANGANA 97088 23626 9552 104.56 164
29 TRIPURA 30161 11213 9173
30 UTTAR PRADESH 53990 8267 47041 16.41
31 UTTARAKHAND 9961 1143 3916
32 WEST BENGAL 204667 11657 88626
Total 1890233 517597 678965 369.11 1160
ANNEXURE-II
Annexure referred to in reply of Part – (c) of Unstarred Question No. †1764 to be answered on 28.11.2019 in Lok Sabha regarding “Restoration of Water Bodies”.
Some of the key ground water management initiatives taken by the Union Government:
• Hon’ble Prime Minister has written a letter to all sarpanchs regarding the importance of water conservation and harvesting and exhorted them to adopt all appropriate measures to make water conservation a mass movement.
• Ministry of Jal Shakti has recently launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan- a campaign for water conservation and water security in 1592 stressed blocks in 256 districts. The five important water conservation interventions are- water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks, reuse of water, bore well recharge structures, watershed development and intensive afforestation.
• National Water Policy (2012) formulated by Ministry of Water Resources advocates conservation, promotion and protection of water and highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through rain water harvesting, direct use of rainfall and other management measures. The Policy has been forwarded to all States/UTs concerned Ministries/Departments of Central Government for adoption.
• The Ministry has circulated a Model Bill to all the States/UTs to enable them to enact suitable ground water legislation for regulation of its development, which includes provision of rain water harvesting. So far, 15 States/UTs have adopted and implemented the ground water legislation on the lines of Model Bill.
• Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has prepared a conceptual document titled “Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water – 2013” which provides information about area-specific artificial recharge techniques to augment ground water resources based on the availability of source water and capability of subsurface formations to accommodate it. The Master Plan is available in public domain and has also been circulated to the State Governments for implementation.
• Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has been constituted under Section 3 (3) of the “Environment (Protection) Act, 1986” for the purpose of regulation and control of ground water development and management in the country. CGWA has issued directives to the Chief Secretaries of all States as well as Administrators of all UTs to take measures to promote/adopt artificial recharge to ground water / rainwater harvesting. It also grants No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for ground water abstraction to Industries, Infrastructure units and Mining projects in feasible areas with mandatory conditions for conservation, augmentation and efficient use of ground water.
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• Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) regularly undertakes training programs and IEC activities for capacity building and awareness creation of stakeholders on various aspects including the importance of water conservation, rainwater harvesting in augmenting the ground water resources, preventing water pollution and safe use of contaminated water.
• Central Ground Water Board is implementing a nationwide programme of “National Aquifer Mapping and Management (NAQUIM)” for mapping of aquifers (Water bearing formations), their characterization and development of aquifer management plans to facilitate sustainable development of ground water resources. Aquifer maps and management plans have been shared with the respective State Government agencies. Public Interaction Programs are being organised at grass root level for disseminating the tenets of the Aquifer Management Plans for the benefit of the stakeholders.
• Central Ground Water Board is implementing innovative schemes for Aquifer Rejuvenation under ‘Ground Water Management and Regulation’ scheme in select overexploited blocks of the Aspirational districts on pilot basis. Water Harvesting and Recharge Augmentation are proposed to be piloted through construction of Bridge cum Bhandaras in parts of Maharashtra. Further, a Joint Action Plan has been prepared with the Ministry of Rural development for effective implementation of water conservation and artificial recharge structures in convergence with MGNREGS. Nine water stressed blocks in the State of Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been identified, where work is in progress.
• Best practices of water conservation by various entities including private persons, NGOs, PSUs etc. have been compiled and put on the web site of the Ministry for the benefit of general public. An interactive link on best practices has also been created for receiving inputs from public, which after necessary evaluation/validation shall be put on the website.
• Model Building Bye Laws, 2016 circulated by Ministry of Urban Development includes provision for Rainwater Harvesting and it has been shared with all the States. So far 32 States / UTs have adopted the provisions of rainwater harvesting of MBBL-2016.
• Activities related to augmentation/conservation of water resources are undertaken under various Schemes of Government of India i.e. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) and Command Area Development & Water Management (CAD&WM) Programme etc.
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