(a) whether any assessment has been carried out to assess the current
availability of ground water in the country and percentage of its
utilisaion for various purposes including irrigation;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the percentage of rain water which trickles into ground water thereby
increasing the water table;
(d) whether the Government proposes to construct underground reservoirs to
tap the rain water for streamlining the water distribution; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES(SHRI VINCENT H. PALA)
(a) & (b) As per the assessment of ground water resources carried out by
the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) jointly with States in 2004,the
annual replenishable ground water resources of the country have been
assessed as 433 billion cubic metres (bcm).Keeping 34 bcm for natural
discharge,net annual ground water availability has been estimated as 399
bcm.Annual ground water withdrawal for all uses in the country is
estimated as 231 bcm with stage of ground water development at 58%.Ground
water withdrawal for irrigation is 212 bcm,which is 92% of the total
ground water withdrawal.
(c) As per the assessment, recharge to the aquifers from monsoon
rainfall has been estimated as 248 billion cubic metres (bcm). Considering
the annual precipitation in the country as 4000 bcm, monsoon rainfall
recharge works out to be 6.2% of the annual precipitation for the country
as a whole.
(d) & (e) Construction of underground reservoir for tapping the rain water
for streamlining the water distribution system is not envisaged under any
of the ongoing schemes of Ministry of Water Resources.However,the
Ministry of Water Resources has scheme for supporting artificial recharge
to ground water and rain water harvesting by construction of various
structures like percolation tanks,check dams, subsurface dykes,recharge
shafts/trenches,injection wells,gabion structures, etc.