(a) whether the Government monitors live storage position/status of reservoirs of the country and if so, the details and the current status thereof, State/UT-wise especially in Tamil Nadu;
(b) whether the Central Water Commission(CWC) has announced that reservoirs have one hundred fifty five percent more water as compared to that of 2019;
(c) if so, the details of States which have highest live storage of all the States;
(d) Whether the Government has taken steps to raise storage capacity of reservoirs to reduce the dependence on monsoon rains and if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether the Government proposes to construct new reservoirs in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
(f) the details of steps taken by the Government for improving ground water level in the country?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) Central Water Commission monitors on weekly basis the live storage status of 123 reservoirs having cumulative storage capacity of 171.090 BCM (Billion Cubic Meter) which is about 66.36% of 257.812 BCM, being the total storage capacity estimated to have been created in the country. The State/UT-wise current status, comparative position and other details, including of Tamil Nadu, are available at URL http://www.cwc.gov.in/reservoirs-storage-bulletin. As per reservoir storage bulletin dated 10.09.2020, live storage available in these reservoirs is 142.234 BCM.
The total live storage available in six reservoirs being monitored in Tamil Nadu is 71% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs as per bulletin dated 10.09.2020.
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(b) In Weekly Bulletins, Central Water Commission (CWC) furnishes the comparative status of current live storage in 123 reservoirs with last year live storage available for the corresponding period and the average of last l0 years live storage. As per the Weekly Bulletins issued by CWC, during January 2020 till date, percentage of current year''s storage to that of last year has gone up to 155% percent as compared to that of 2019 during 16.01 .2020 to 13.02.2020, 27 .02.2020 to 09.07.2020 and on 23.07.2020.
(c) States having highest live storage as per CWC bulletins are M.P., Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, A.P. & Telangana and Himachal Pradesh as on 25.06.2020.
(d) & (e) Water being a state subject, States have the primary responsibility to augment storage capacity of reservoirs either by building new storage structures or by enhancing the capacity of existing ones in their respective States. The role of Government of India is to provide technical and financial support to projects, as and when they are referred by States from time to time under various schemes of DoWR, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
(f) During July 2019, Ministry of Jal Shakti launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan, an intensive time bound programme in mission mode, for promoting a water conservation campaign built on citizen participation to facilitate Rain Water Harvesting, Renovation of traditional water bodies, Watershed development, Afforestation and creating Public Awareness in around 1500 Blocks that are drought affected, water stressed or over-exploited falling in 256 districts of the country. Further, Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL), a loan assistance scheme from World Bank for facilitating sustainable ground water management, is being taken up in 8353 water stressed Gram Panchayats of Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
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