(a) whether the Government has any specific policy regarding groundwater exploitation and contamination;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government maintains updated data on groundwater exploitation and contamination; and
(d) if so, State/UT-wise data thereof?
THE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES ( SHRI HARISH RAWAT)
(a)&(b) Ministry of Water Resources has formulated a Model Bill to regulate and control groundwater
development and management in the Country. The Model Bill has been circulated by the Ministry to all the
States/ Union Territories for enactment. So far 14 States/ UTs namely, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, UTs of Lakshadweep, Puducherry,
Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli have enacted the legislation. The responsibility to protect ground water
from contamination lies primarily with the States concerned. For protection of ground water from contamination,
Government of India have also taken various steps including constitution of Water Quality Assessment Authority
(WQAA). Besides, reports on ground water and Surface water pollution hotspots are uploaded to WQAA website
for public use.
(c)&(d) Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the Ministry of Water Resources monitors groundwater levels
on regional scale through a network of 15653 observation wells located throughout the Country. Water levels
are monitored four times in a year during the months of January, April/ May, August and November. The latest
assessment of exploitation of groundwater resources has been carried out, jointly by CGWB and the respective
State Governments, as on 2009. As per the assessment, the annual replenishable groundwater resources are
estimated at 431 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) and annual groundwater withdrawal has been estimated as 243
BCM. The State-wise withdrawal and availability of replenishable ground water resources is given in Annexure-I.
CGWB also monitors ground water quality of shallow aquifers on regional scale once every year during April /
May through a network of 10714 observation wells located throughout the Country. State wise details of districts
affected with ground water contamination is given in Annexure-II.