THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) & (b) 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 grants No Objection Certificates for ground water abstraction, in 23 States/UTs, through guidelines which are modified from time to time. Rest of the States / UTs are regulating ground water development through their own Acts, notifications or Government Orders. Further, CGWA has also appointed the District Magistrate / District Collector of each Revenue District and Regional Directors of CGWB in these States as Authorized Officers, with power to enforce compliance of NOC conditions.
As per the existing groundwater regulation guidelines, industries are mandatorily required to undertake groundwater recharge measures commensurate to the quantum of water abstraction approved by CGWA. Further, CGWA, in its latest water regulation guidelines notified vide Gazette Notification SO 6140(E) dated 12.12.2018 had proposed introduction of Water Conservation Fee (WCF). However, Hon’ble NGT vide its order dated 03.01.2019 has directed that the notified guidelines may not be given effect to.
Contd…P/2
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(c) & (d) Ground water levels in various parts of the Country are declining because of continuous withdrawal due to reasons such as increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization & urbanization etc.
The Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country are being periodically assessed jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments. As per the 2017 assessment, out of the total 6881 assessment units (Block/ Taluks/ Mandals/ watersheds/ Firkas) in the country, 1186 units in 17 States/UTs have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’ where Annual Ground Water Extraction is more than Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource. Details are given in Annexure.
Government of India has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan which is 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. In this regard, team of officers from Central Government along-with technical officers from Ministry of Jal Shakti have been deputed to visit water stressed districts and to work in close collaboration with district level officials to undertake suitable demand side and supply side interventions.
Central Government supports construction of water harvesting and conservation works primarily through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana – Watershed Development Component (PMKSY-WDC) and PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop. Under these Schemes, 17,56,207 water conservation and recharging structures have been constructed at an expenditure of Rs.23,435.67 crore in the last three years.
In addition, for enhancing water use efficiency, the Central Government is promoting micro-irrigation systems, Command Area Development works, Participatory Irrigation Management, recycle and reuse of water amongst others.
Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation and artificial recharge to ground water in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility. The other important initiatives taken up are available at the following URL:
http://mowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_Jun2019.pdf.
(e) & (f) The Hon’ble National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to constitute a mechanism to deal with individual cases of violation of norms, as existed prior to 12/12/2018 and to determine the environment compensation to be recovered or other coercive measures to be taken, including prosecution, for past illegal extraction of ground water, as per law.
In compliance to the order, CPCB has submitted a report in this regard to Hon’ble NGT.
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ANNEXURE
Annexure referred to in reply to parts (c) & (d) of Unstarred Question No.†5379 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 25.07.2019 regarding “Exploitation of Ground Water by Builders and Industries”
S.No. States / Union Territories Total No. of Assessed Units Over-Exploited
Nos. %
States
1 Andhra Pradesh 670 45 7
2 Arunachal Pradesh 11 0 0
3 Assam 28 0 0
4 Bihar 534 12 2
5 Chattisgarh 146 0 0
6 Delhi 34 22 65
7 Goa 12 0 0
8 Gujarat 248 25 10
9 Haryana 128 78 61
10 Himachal Pradesh 8 4 50
11 Jammu & Kashmir 22 0 0
12 Jharkhand 260 3 1
13 Karnataka 176 45 26
14 Kerala 152 1 1
15 Madhya Pradesh 313 22 7
16 Maharashtra 353 11 3
17 Manipur 9 0 0
18 Meghalaya 11 0 0
19 Mizoram 26 0 0
20 Nagaland 11 0 0
21 Odisha 314 0 0
22 Punjab 138 109 79
23 Rajasthan 295 185 63
24 Sikkim 4 0 0
25 Tamil Nadu 1166 462 40
26 Telangana 584 70 12
27 Tripura 59 0 0
28 Uttar Pradesh* 830 91 11
29 Uttarakhand 18 0 0
30 West Bengal ** 268 0 0
Total States 6828 1185 17
Union Territories
1 Andaman & Nicobar 36 0 0
2 Chandigarh 1 0 0
3 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1 0 0
4 Daman & Diu 2 0 0
5 Lakshdweep 9 0 0
6 Puducherry 4 1 25
Total UTs 53 1 2
Grand Total 6881 1186 17
Note
Blocks- Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, M.P., Manipur, Mizoram, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand, West Bengal
Taluks -Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra
Mandals- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
Districts/Valley- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland
Islands - Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Firka-Tamil Nadu
Region - Puducherry
UT - Chandigarh, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu
Tehsil-NCT Delhi
*Uttar Pradesh: There are total 820 block and 10 Cities
**The Ground Water resources assessment as on 2013 has been considered for the state of West Bengal
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