(a) whether the Government is monitoring the ground water levels in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has made any comprehensive plan to encourage rain water harvesting among households; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
(SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)
(a) & (b) Yes sir. Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the Country on a regional scale, through a network of monitoring wells. Analysis of water level data indicates that about 68% of the wells monitored have depth to water level upto 5.0 m below ground level. The deeper ground water level (more than 40 meters below ground level) has also been observed in isolated pockets of some of the States/UTs. State-wise Depth to water level and distribution of percentage of wells for November 2020 is given in Annexure.
(c) & (d) Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation & water harvesting in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility. However, the important measures taken by the Central Government for conservation, management of ground water and effective implementation of rain water harvesting in the country are available at the following URL:
http://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_Feb2021.pdf.
Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 has been prepared by CGWB in consultation with States/UTs which is a macro level plan indicating various structures for the different terrain conditions of the country including estimated cost. The Master Plan envisages construction of about 1.06 crore roof top rain water harvesting structures in the urban areas of the Country on the basis of roof area & rainfall in the respective regions with an estimated cost of about Rs.36794.00 crores.
Contd…P/2
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Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019, 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, teams of officers from Central Government along-with technical officers from Ministry of Jal Shakti were deputed to visit water stressed districts and to work in close collaboration with district level officials to undertake suitable interventions.
In addition, Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken up the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) with the theme “Catch the Rain - Where it Falls When it Falls” to cover all the blocks of all districts (rural as well as urban areas) across the country during 22nd March 2021 to 30th November 2021. The campaign was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22 March 2021.
Central Government supports construction of water harvesting and conservation works primarily through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). To improve productivity of lands of house-holds, farm ponds, dug wells and other watershed activities are permitted under MGNREGS.
As per information received from Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoH&UA), the Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016, has been issued for guidance of the States/UTs which has a chapter on ‘Rainwater Harvesting’. The provisions of this chapter are applicable to all the buildings. 33 States / UTs have adopted the rainwater harvesting provisions. The implementation of the rainwater harvesting policy comes within the purview of the State Government/Urban Local Body / Urban Development Authority. Further, as per MBBL- 2016, provision of rainwater harvesting is applicable to all residential plots above 100 sq.m.
This Ministry has issued guidelines for control and regulation of groundwater extraction with pan-India applicability notified on 24 September 2020. The guidelines require submission of proposal for rain water harvesting/recharge within the premises as per Model Building Bye Laws issued by MoH&UA in respect of Residential apartments/Group housing societies etc in urban areas along-with the application for No Objection Certificate (NOC).
Ministry has circulated a Model Bill to all the States/UTs to enable them to enact suitable ground water legislation for regulation of its development, which also includes provision of rain water harvesting. So far, 19 States/UTs have adopted and implemented the ground water legislation.
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ANNEXURE
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) & (b) of Unstarred Question No. 2873 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 05.08.2021 regarding “MONITORING OF GROUND WATER LEVEL”.
State-wise Depth to water Level and Distribution of Percentage of Wells for the Period of November, 2020
S. No. Name of State No. of wells Analysed Depth to Water Level (mbgl) Number & Percentage of Wells Showing Depth to Water Level (mbgl) in the Range of
0-2 2-5 5-10 10-20 20-40 > 40
Min Max No % No % No % No % No % No %
1 Andhra Pradesh 717 0.00 75.65 377 52.6 221 30.8 80 11.2 26 3.6 10 1.4 3 0.4
2 Arunachal Pradesh 3 0.80 6.47 1 33.3 1 33.3 1 33.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
3 Assam 160 0.05 15.84 94 58.8 54 33.8 10 6.3 2 1.3 0 0.0 0 0.0
4 Bihar 548 0.25 15.00 132 24.1 348 63.5 58 10.6 10 1.8 0 0.0 0 0.0
5 Chandigarh 12 2.74 53.64 0 0.0 3 25.0 1 8.3 4 33.3 3 25.0 1 8.3
6 Chhattisgarh 721 0.07 29.57 46 6.4 476 66.0 172 23.9 24 3.3 3 0.4 0 0.0
7 Dadra & Nagar Haveli # 17 1.03 7.60 6 35.3 10 58.8 1 5.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
8 Daman & Diu 9 1.30 4.60 1 11.1 7 77.8 1 11.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
9 Delhi 81 1.61 65.16 1 1.2 18 22.2 21 25.9 21 25.9 14 17.3 6 7.4
10 Goa 65 1.32 13.58 8 12.3 31 47.7 22 33.8 4 6.2 0 0.0 0 0.0
11 Gujarat 742 0.00 44.20 136 18.3 288 38.8 204 27.5 79 10.6 34 4.6 1 0.1
12 Haryana 315 0.10 108.00 24 7.6 66 21.0 52 16.5 77 24.4 66 21.0 30 9.5
13 Himachal Pradesh 89 0.41 29.02 18 20.2 30 33.7 21 23.6 17 19.1 3 3.4 0 0.0
14 Jammu & Kashmir 163 0.09 34.50 34 20.9 86 52.8 29 17.8 8 4.9 6 3.7 0 0.0
15 Jharkhand 279 0.00 14.05 61 21.9 171 61.3 44 15.8 3 1.1 0 0.0 0 0.0
16 Karnataka 1318 0.01 32.50 440 33.4 470 35.7 322 24.4 82 6.2 4 0.3 0 0.0
17 Kerala 1334 0.18 31.35 243 18.2 416 31.2 561 42.1 109 8.2 5 0.4 0 0.0
18 Madhya Pradesh 1296 0.00 54.10 155 12.0 525 40.5 470 36.3 127 9.8 18 1.4 1 0.1
19 Maharashtra ** 3701 0.05 39.50 1859 50.2 1293 34.9 431 11.6 95 2.6 23 0.6 0 0.0
20 Meghalaya 24 0.18 4.80 11 45.8 13 54.2 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
21 Nagaland 2 4.21 6.37 0 0.0 1 50.0 1 50.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
22 Odisha 1220 0.01 12.76 543 44.5 582 47.7 93 7.6 2 0.2 0 0.0 0 0.0
23 Pondicherry 6 1.36 6.78 1 16.7 4 66.7 1 16.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
24 Punjab 250 0.28 70.00 20 8.0 38 15.2 47 18.8 65 26.0 60 24.0 20 8.0
25 Rajasthan 968 0.17 119.02 50 5.2 217 22.4 193 19.9 158 16.3 171 17.7 179 18.5
26 Tamil Nadu 640 0.00 67.42 114 17.8 208 32.5 196 30.6 95 14.8 20 3.1 7 1.1
27 Telangana 549 0.00 67.00 208 37.9 218 39.7 92 16.8 24 4.4 6 1.1 1 0.2
28 Tripura 21 0.24 6.12 9 42.9 10 47.6 2 9.5 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
29 Uttar Pradesh 634 0.00 44.21 117 18.5 273 43.1 126 19.9 97 15.3 18 2.8 3 0.5
30 Uttarakhand 47 0.98 60.00 6 12.8 13 27.7 17 36.2 6 12.8 3 6.4 2 4.3
31 West Bengal 638 0.00 29.38 140 21.9 300 47.0 107 16.8 78 12.2 13 2.0 0 0.0
Total 16569 0.00 119.02 4855 29.3 6391 38.6 3376 20.4 1213 7.3 480 2.9 254 1.5
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