Question : Access to Clean Water

a) whether it is true that 163 million Indians lacked access to clean water, the highest for any country in the world and if so, the details thereof along with the reasons for the same;
b) whether the Government proposes to fix a threshold limit of assured household water supply to every household in the country under Rashtriya Jal Kosh and if so, the details thereof;
c) whether the Government has also set up a dedicated fund for this ambitious mission to provide piped water to every rural Indian household by 2024 and if so, the details thereof;
d) whether the Government proposes to spend a sizable chunk of MGNREGA Scheme budget for Jal Jeevan Mission to conserve water and augment supply particularly to alleviate the water crisis in 254 severely water stressed districts of the country and if so, the details thereof;
e) whether the Government has set up any deadline for completing the mapping of all water sources and aquifers in these districts and if so, the details thereof; and
f) the funds sanctioned by the Government for the above said purpose?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)


(a) As reported by States/ UTs, a very large population of India has access to potable drinking water in adequate quantity. 81.22% rural habitations having 76.54% rural population are fully covered with water supply provision of 40 litres or more per capita per day (lpcd) and 15.54% rural habitations having 19.69% rural population are partially covered, i.e. with provision of less than 40 lpcd, whereas 3.24% rural habitations having 3.77% rural population are having water sources with quality issues.
(b)&(c) Government of India has launched Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) with the objective to provide Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) at the rate of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) to every rural household by 2024.
Rural water supply is a State subject and Government of India supplements the efforts of the States by providing financial and technical assistance. State Governments plan, approve and implement water supply schemes to provide potable water to rural population. To enable every rural household to have Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) by 2024, Government of India has launched Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), with an outlay of ? 3.60 lakh Crore.
(d) Under Jal Jeevan Mission, source sustainability measures like rain water harvesting, groundwater recharge and other water conservation measures as well as grey water management including reuse, are to be undertaken at grass-root level in convergence with MGNREGA scheme. Further, to promote water conservation and water resource management and to spread awareness among all stakeholders about compelling need of water conservation, Government of India has launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 256 water-stressed districts of the country. Five target interventions, viz. water conservation & rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies/ tanks, reuse and recharge of bore wells, watershed development and intensive afforestation are the focus areas of this campaign. With this campaign, huge awareness has been generated and various stakeholders, viz. government departments, agencies, NGOs, officials, Panchayats, individuals, etc. have started taking steps for water conservation.
(e) Mapping of aquifers is being taken up as a part of the National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme (NAQUIM), which is a component of the Central Sector Scheme of Ground Water Management and Regulation. As a part of this programme, there is a target to cover 6.6 lakh sq. km areas in the period 2017-20, but there is no specific deadline for completing mapping of water sources and aquifers in the mentioned 254 districts. However, as a part of the ongoing NAQUIM programme, 175 of the said districts have already been covered.

(f) No specific fund has been sanctioned for mapping of aquifers in these districts. However, out of total outlay of Rs 992 Crore for 2017-20 for the groundwater management and regulation scheme, Rs 694 Crore is for aquifer mapping and management component.
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