(a) whether the Government has declared many regions of the country as dark zones;
(b) if so, the details thereof, Statewise; and
(c) the details of the arrangements being made/the schemes formulated by the Government to provide irrigation as well as drinking water facilities in these zones?
THE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION, ROAD TRANSPORT & HIGHWAYS AND SHIPPING
(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)
(a) to (c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. †*189 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 08.03.2018 REGARDING “DARK ZONE” ASKED BY SHRI RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY AND SHRI HARISHCHANDRA CHAVAN, M.Ps
(a) & (b) As per the assessment of dynamic ground water resources of country (As on 31st March 2013) carried out jointly by Central Ground Water Board and State Ground Water Departments, out of the total 6584 numbers of assessment units (Block/ Taluks/ Mandals/ watershed/ Firkka), 1034 units have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’. State-wise number of ‘Over-exploited’ units are given at Annexure.
(c) Water Resources Projects are planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Governments themselves as per their own resources and priority. In order to supplement the efforts of the State Governments, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has been providing financial assistance to State Governments for its irrigation projects under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) since 1996-97. During 2015-16, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched and AIBP is one of its components. Funds have been provided to the projects as per their eligibility and availability of funds through budget till 2015-16.
During 2016-17, Ninety Nine (99) ongoing Major/Medium Irrigation Projects (including 14 projects of Madhya Pradesh) under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) having potential of 76.03 lakh ha., have been prioritized in consultation with States for completion in phases by December, 2019 along with their Command Area Development & Water Management (CADWM) works. For completion of these projects in a mission mode, funding mechanism under Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) through NABARD has been approved by the Government for both Central and State share as per above estimated cost.
Rural drinking water supply is a State subject. For improving the coverage of safe drinking water to rural population, M/o Drinking Water & Sanitation supplements the efforts of the States by providing them with technical and financial assistance through the centrally sponsored scheme called National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). Under NRDWP, no separate funds are provided to over-exploited blocks to formulate drinking water supply schemes. However, the State Government is free to prioritize implementation of the scheme including implementation of schemes for over-exploited blocks. It is the State Governments who plan, design, approve, execute and operate & maintain the schemes for providing safe drinking water to rural population. The funds provided to the States under NRDWP can be utilized for coverage and tackling water quality problems.
Other 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 (a) & (b) of Starred Q.No. †*189 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 08.03.2018 regarding “Dark Zones”
CATEGORIZATION OF BLOCKS/ MANDALS/ TALUKS IN INDIA
(2013)
Sl.
No. States /
Union Territories Total No. of
Assessed Units Over-
Exploited
Nos. %
States
1. Andhra Pradesh 670 61 9
2. Arunachal Pradesh 11 0 0
3. Assam 27 0 0
4. Bihar 534 0 0
5. Chhattisgarh 146 1 1
6. Delhi 27 15 56
7. Goa 12 0 0
8. Gujarat 223 23 10
9. Haryana 119 64 54
10. Himachal Pradesh 8 1 13
11. Jammu & Kashmir 22 0 0
12. Jharkhand 260 4 2
13. Karnataka 176 43 24
14. Kerala 152 1 1
15. Madhya Pradesh 313 25 8
16. Maharashtra 353 9 3
17. Manipur 9 0 0
18. Meghalaya 11 0 0
19. Mizoram 22 0 0
20. Nagaland 11 0 0
21. Odisha 314 0 0
22. Punjab 138 105 76
23. Rajasthan 248 164 66
24. Sikkim - - -
25. Tamil Nadu 1139 358 31
26. Telangana 443 46 10
27. Tripura 39 0 0
28. Uttar Pradesh 820 113 14
29. Uttarakhand 18 0 0
30. West Bengal 268 0 0
Total (States) 6533 1033 16
Union Territories
1. Andaman & Nicobar 34 0 0
2. Chandigarh 1 0 0
3. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1 0 0
4. Daman & Diu 2 0 0
5. Lakshadweep 9 0 0
6. Puducherry 4 1 25
Total (UTs) 51 1 2
Grand Total 6584 1034 16
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