(a) whether excessive silt deposited in the rivers damages the river embankments every year, destroys the agriculture land and causes loss to life and property; and
(b) if so, the measures taken by the Government to prevent such situation, river-wise?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)
(a) to (b): Erosion, movement and deposition of sediment in a river are natural regulating functions of a river. Rivers tend to maintain a balance between the silt load carried & silt load deposited, maintaining a river regime. Soil erosion caused by heavy floods is a matter of concern as it leads to several associated problems like changes in river course, causing loss of land, damages to the embankments, etc.
Flood management including erosion control falls within the purview of the States. Flood management and anti-erosion schemes are formulated and implemented by concerned State Governments as per their priority. The Union Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical guidance and also promotional financial assistance for management of floods in critical areas. The Government of India has been making continuous efforts to assist the State Governments in effective flood management and erosion control. Morphological Studies by various IIT and NIIT have been carried out for major rivers like Ganga, Sharda, Rapti, Kosi, Bagmati, Subansari, Krishna, Mahanadi Mahanada, etc. These Studies aid in finding the vulnerable spots for bank erosion/deposition, aggradations/ degradation etc. During XI Plan Government of India had launched Flood Management Programme (FMP) for providing Central Assistance to States for works related to flood management and erosion control which continued during XII Plan and thereafter, as a component of "Flood Management and Border Areas Programme" (FMBAP) for the period from 2017-18 and extended to December, 2021. Central Assistance to the tune of Rs.6447.76 Crores has been provided to States/ Union Territories up to March 2021 under FMP component of this Programme.
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