THE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION (SUSHRI UMA BHARTI)
(a) to (d) A statement is laid on the table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 585 ON 07.05.2015 TO BE ASKED BY SHRI RAYAPATISAMBASIVA RAO; SHRI MAHEISHGIRRI, MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING “WATER MANAGEMENT”.
(a) Yes, Madam. The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur had conducted a study on “Performance Evaluation of Water Distribution System” of selected cities in India in 1992,which indicated that there is 11% - 49% wastage of water due to leakages in urban areas of the country. The pilot studies attribute to the wastage / leakage of water to corrosion/ cracks in house service connections and main/ sub-main distribution system.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) also conducted a study across twenty towns and cities in 2007, which stated that the water losses due to leakage, pilferage etc. are up to 60%.The status report on Service Level in Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector (2010-11) indicates that the average non-revenue water (Water lost) without bringing any revenue is 32.9%. Reasons for wastage of water/ leakage/ non-revenue water are physical leaks through pipe joints, cracks, leakages from reservoirs, etc. and non-physical leakages such as water theft, illegal connections and free supplies to certain facilities.
(b) Water is a State subject, it is the responsibility of State/ Union Territory (UT) Governments/ULBs to plan, design, execute, operate and maintain such projects with State Plan funds. Central Government supplements the efforts of State/UT by providing technical support/additional central assistance for conservation and management of water.
National Water Mission (NWM) has been established by the Government of India with the objective of “conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources development and management”.
The Government of India has also launched a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of water bodies, which has multiple objectives like comprehensive improvement and restoration of water bodies thereby increasing tank storage capacity, improved water use efficiency and increased availability of drinking water. During XII Plan, an outlay of Rs.6235 crore of central assistance for Repair, Renovation and Restoration of 10,000 water bodies in the country (9,000 in rural and 1,000 in urban areas), has been ear-marked. The details of central assistance/ grant released to the States/ UTs and expenditure incurred during XI and XII Plan including the last three years 2011-12 to 2014-15are given at Annexure-I.
(c) Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has been constituted under Section 3(3) of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to regulate indiscriminate groundwater abstraction in the Country. CGWA accords “No Objection Certificate (NOC)” for withdrawal of ground water for new and expansion of industrial/ infrastructure /mining projects based on guidelines/ criteria fixed for evaluation of such projects wherein utilization of recycle and reuse of water is mandatory for various purposes except recharge to ground water.
In addition Ministry of Urban Development has formulated the Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs) for urban water supply sector and published the same as the Handbook of SLBs in 2009. The Benchmark for non- revenue water has been kept at 20% and it has been circulated to all States/ UTs/ULBs for adoption in the management of their public water utilities.
The National Water Policy, 2012 focuses on the need for publishing water accounts and water audit reports indicating leakages and pilferages. The policy recommends systems to evolve benchmarks for water uses for different purposes, i.e., water footprints, and water auditing to ensure efficient use of water. Project financing has been suggested as a tool to incentivize efficient & economic use of water. It also recom- mends setting up of Water Regulatory Authority and Incentivisation of recycle and re-use of water as well as removal of large disparities in stipulations for water supply in urban and rural areas.
(d) The Ministry assists the State Governments in availing external assistance from different funding agencies to fill up the resource gap and state-of-the-art technology for water resources development and management in the country. There are 15 ongoing externally aided projects in various States with assistance from different funding agencies, viz. World Bank (9 projects), Asian Development Bank (3 projects) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) (3 projects). The details of externally aided projects are given at Annexure - II.
