Question : WATER CONSERVATION SCHEMES

(a) the details of water conservation schemes being run by the Government, State-wise;

(b) the details of funds allocated and spent thereon during each of the last three years and the current year,State-wise/UT-wise;

(c) the State-wise details of Government and Non-Governmental Organisations included under this scheme;

(d) whether the Government is aware of such organisations which are exploiting ground water in the name of water conservation which resulted in the declining of level of ground water; and

(e) if so, the action taken against such organisations by the Government?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT(SHRI SISIR KUMAR ADHIKARI)

(a) Water conservation is one of the activities of watershed schemes.The Department of Land Resources has been implementing three watershed schemes namely Desert Development Programme (DDP),Drought Prone Areas programme (DPAP) and Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP).

DPAP is under implementation in 972 blocks of 195 districts in 16 States. The States covered under DPAP are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

DDP is in operation in 7 States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka and Rajasthan covering 235 blocks in 40 districts. The projects under IWDP are sanctioned in areas not covered by DDP and DPAP. The programme is being implemented in 470 districts in 28 States of the country.

Since 26.02.2009 the above three schemes have been consolidated into a single programme called as Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP).The coverage of IWMP extends to all the States.

(b) Since watershed schemes are demand driven schemes, no budget allocation has been made.However,State-wise central assistance released under watershed schemes during each of the last three years and the current year are given at Annexure-I.

(c) The watershed schemes are implemented by releasing the funds to District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs)/Zila Panchayats (ZPs).

(d) & (e) No such information has come to the notice of this Ministry.