(a) whether the shortage of water still looms large despite average monsoon rainfall in the country during the last two years;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto; and
(c) the additional water reserves created by the Government in the country during the said period along with the water storage capacity of each of them?
THE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION
(SUSHRI UMA BHARTI)
(a) to (c) A statement is laid on the table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (c) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.*342 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.08.2017 REGARDING SHORTAGE OF WATER.
(a) As per the information of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the normal All India Area Weighted Monsoon Rainfall is 887.5 mm. Rainfall is not evenly spread around the country. Out of the total of 36 metrological sub-division in India, some receive normal rainfall, others receive either excess or deficit rainfall. The Monsoon-2015 rainfall was 765.8 mm which is - 14% departure which can be disaggregated metrological sub-division wise as excess-1, normal-19 and deficit-16. The Monsoon-2016 rainfall was 864.4 mm which is -3 % departure which can be disaggregated metrological sub-division wise as excess-4, normal-22 and deficit-10.
Central Water Commission (CWC) monitors live storage of 91 reservoirs of the country on weekly basis and issues weekly live storage bulletin on every Thursday. As per the latest Reservoir Bulletin dated 3rd August, 2017, the region-wise overall storage position of 91 Reservoirs of the country is at Annexure-I.
(b) The Central Government has taken various steps to create additional water storages during the last two years in the form of schemes like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojna, Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme, Repair, Renovation & Restoration (RRR) of water bodies, implementation of new projects like Pancheshwar Dam, Pollavaram Project, Interlinking of Rivers Project, Dam Rehabilitation & Improvement Project, etc. Additionally, non-structural measures have also been taken through the development and augmentation of National Hydrology Project, Flood Forecasting Stations, Hydrological Observation Stations etc.
(c) As per information available in the National Register of Large Dams (NRLD) – January, 2017 maintained by CWC, during last two years, 13 projects having gross storage capacity of 37.764 Million Cubic Metre (MCM) and live storage capacity 30.46 MCM have been completed during 2015.
Annexure-I
(Annexure referred to in reply to Part (a) of the Starred Question No. †*342 to be answered on 10.08.2017 in Lok Sabha regarding “Shortage of Water”)
REGION WISE STORAGE POSITION OF 91 RESERVOIRS OF THE COUNTRY UNDER CWC MONITORING
AS ON 03.08.2017
REGION NO. OF RESERVOIRS MONITORED LIVE CAPACITY AT FRL
(BCM) LIVE STORAGE
(BCM) STORAGE AS PERCENTAGE OF LIVE CAPACITY AT FRL % departure from last year % departure from 10 years avg.
CURRENT YEAR LAST YEAR LAST 10 YRS. AVG. CURRENT YEAR LAST YEAR LAST 10 YRS. AVERAGE
NORTHERN REGION 6 18.01 11.34 7.77 9.13 63 43 51 46 24
EASTERN 15 18.83 7.47 6.96 6.76 40 37 36 7 11
WESTERN 27 27.07 14.74 11.63 12.62 54 43 47 27 17
CENTRAL 12 42.30 19.85 23.18 17.11 47 55 40 -14 16
SOUTHERN 31 51.59 14.28 15.58 23.88 28 30 46 -8 -40
COUNTRY AS
A WHOLE 91 157.80 67.68 65.11 69.51 43 41 44 4 -3