(a) whether the Government is planning to construct more number of Ponds in rural areas of the country to meet the demand of drinking water;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
(c) the steps taken by the Union Government in this regard so far?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
(SHRI RAMESH CHANDAPPA JIGAJINAGI)
(a) to (c) Rural water supply is a State subject. This Ministry supplements the efforts of the States to provide drinking water supply by rendering technical and financial assistanceunder the centrally sponsored National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) in rural areas of the country.
The States have been advised to achieve the sustainable water storage capacity by shifting from over dependence on ground water to improving traditional surface water sources which includes ponds, rivers, dams, lakes, streams, canals, and irrigation channels.
Further, under NRDWP 10% of the allocation is for Sustainability component to be used exclusively to achieve drinking water security by adopting conjunctive use of surface water, rain water and ground water and construction of water recharging structures with major emphasis on water quality affected areas, overexploited, critical and semi-critical areas as specified by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), and any other area that the State Government has identified as water stressed area.
Recently,this Ministry had issued advisory to the affected States / UTs regarding the mitigation measures to be taken by the States in wake of drought / drought like situation and to take necessary measures for ensuring supply of safe drinking water in the affected areas in case of crisis of drinking water. Moreover, Stateshad also been asked to formulate an Integrated State Action Plan and conserve as much rainwater as possible to ease the conditions of drought in the affected areas by pooling resources from flagship programmes like Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) , Repair , Restoration and Renovation (RRR) scheme , Pradhan MantriKrishiSinchayeeYojna (PMKSY) , Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA) , National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) , Integrated Watershed management Programme (IWMP) and National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) .