Question : Rising Residential Water Demands in Cities

(a) whether the Government is aware of a WWF Report that estimates 30 Indian cities to be at risk of running out of water by 2050 and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has devised a solution and set year- wise targets to handle this alarming situation, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(c) whether most Indian cities cannot meet per capita water supply limit of 135 liters per day set by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) and if so, the details of cities that have relied on external help to meet their water demands during the last five years;
(d) whether the water shortage situation has aggravated since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and if so, the details thereof;
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(e) whether the steps have been taken to meet the rising residential water demands due to increased time spent indoors; and
(f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

(SHRI KAUSHAL KISHORE)

(a) and (b): As per a report posted at the website of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Water Risk Filter, which is an online tool to evaluate severity of water risk places face, estimates that 100 cities in the world are facing the greatest rise in water risks by 2050. 30 from India have been identified as cities that will face increasing water risks in the next few decades. The URL of the page is https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?1018866/Cities-face-alarming-rise-in-water-risks-and-must-urgently-invest-in-greater-resilience.

Water supply is the State subject and it is the responsibility of States and Urban Local Bodies to ensure regular supply of potable water to urban households. However, through its policy and programme initiatives, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs supplements the efforts of States and ULBs in providing potable water to urban households. Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), which was launched on June 25, 2015 in 500 selected cities across the country, has major focus on development of water supply infrastructure in the selected cities.
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One of the main purposes of the Mission is to ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water. Out of total approved plan size of ?77,640 crore under AMRUT, ?39,010 crore (50%) has been allocated to Water Supply sector only. States/ Union Territories (UTs) have taken up 1,345 water supply projects worth ?42,206 crore. Of these, 739 projects worth ?11,511 crore have been completed, 587projects worth ?30,336 crore are under implementation and 19 projects worth 358 crore are under tender. Overall, works of water supply projects worth ?30,520 crore (72%) have been physically completed.

So far, against the assessed gap of 139 lakh water tap connections to achieve universal coverage, 114 lakh water tap connections have been provided in AMRUT cities through AMRUT or in convergence with other schemes.

Further, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0) scheme has been launched on 1st October 2021 with overall vision of creating Water Secure Cities, providing universal coverage of water in all statutory towns.

(c): Supply of 135 litre per capita per day (lpcd) water has been suggested as the benchmark for urban water supply. However, actual supply of water to households in urban areas depends on availability of water for supply.

(d) to (f): Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has not come across any report indicating increase in residential water demand since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased time spent indoors by people.

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