Question : Availability of Ground Water

(a) whether it is a fact that the availability of ground water in the country is much less than that of surface water and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether any assessment has been made by the Government in this regard and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has formulated any scheme at national level to get a pond constructed in every village of the country so as to meet the requirement of water for irrigation and if so, the details thereof;

(d) if not, the reasons therefor; and

(e) the schemes formulated by the Government to recharge the ground water in the States?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

(SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a) & (b) According to assessment done by Central Water Commission, average annual utilizable surface water availability is 690 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) and as per assessment done by Central Ground Water Board, the annual replenishable ground water resources of the country is 447 BCM.

(c) Farm pond is among the list of permissible works under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) of the Ministry of Rural Development and can be taken up in rural areas across the country following due process. Details of the farm ponds taken up during last three years is given at Annexure.

(d) In view of reply to part (c), question does not arise.

(e) Steps taken by the Central Government for conservation of ground water are available at the following URL http://mowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/MeasuresForGW-Depletion_1.pdf.

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ANNEXURE

Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of Unstarred Q.No. 1042 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 08.02.2018 regarding “Availability Of Ground Water”.

Status of the completed Farm ponds in last three years

S. No. States Number of Farm Ponds completed
2017-18
(so far) 2016-17 2015-16 2014-15
1 ANDHRA PRADESH 1,41,437 3,08,723 15,446 6,276
2 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 60 567 7 3
3 ASSAM 979 511 490 269
4 BIHAR 1,774 1,961 2,079 1,776
5 CHHATTISGARH 18,278 11,729 2,400 2,228
6 GOA - 5 7 -
7 GUJARAT 3,542 3,401 1,569 304
8 HARYANA 344 375 185 234
9 HIMACHAL PRADESH 6,879 8,518 7,785 11,216
10 JAMMU AND KASHMIR 526 845 841 403
11 JHARKHAND 1,04,631 94,579 7,456 7,266
12 KARNATAKA 15,208 25,098 10,728 8,083
13 KERALA 1,479 5,801 2,457 2,817
14 MADHYA PRADESH 5,278 14,773 15,351 48,070
15 MAHARASHTRA 3,973 5,721 6,111 4,899
16 MANIPUR 19 373 134 88
17 MEGHALAYA 88 271 169 98
18 MIZORAM 1,016 1,239 100 32
19 NAGALAND 126 272 18 1
20 ODISHA 3,841 13,548 10,008 5,875
21 PUNJAB 12 10 11 16
22 RAJASTHAN 14,670 26,806 15,779 23,099
23 SIKKIM - - 9 42
24 TAMIL NADU 2,765 2,619 7,325 14,842
25 TELANGANA 41,591 32,400 1,205 120
26 TRIPURA 2,577 3,813 4,984 8,468
27 UTTAR PRADESH 3,784 14,136 11,814 5,413
28 UTTARAKHAND 2,766 1,449 487 371
29 WEST BENGAL 28,446 36,392 34,471 32,097
30 ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR 4 22 23 21
31 LAKSHADWEEP - - - -
32 PUDUCHERRY 5 3 7 3
Total 4,06,098 6,15,960 1,59,456 1,84,430