(a) whether the Government is aware that water table in Tamil Nadu has gone down dangerously and has touched rock bottom in many places;
(b) whether the Government is also aware that there is an increasing mis-match between extraction and recharge of groundwater in many cities of India including Tamil Nadu; and
(c) if so, the steps being taken by the Government to recharge groundwater in Tamil Nadu?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) & (b) Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) carries out ground water monitoring on regional scale through a network of observation wells in the Country. As per the pre-monsoon water level data (2018), in Tamil Nadu, the general depth to water level ranges from 2 to 10 m. However, the deeper ground water level (more than 40 meters below ground level) has also been observed in the isolated pockets mainly in the districts of Coimbatore and Cuddalore.
In order to assess the declining/rising trend in water level on a long-term basis, pre-monsoon water level data 2018 has been compared with the decadal average (2008-2017) water level. Analysis of data indicates decline in ground water level in about 60% of the wells and rise in 40% wells being monitored in the State of Tamil Nadu.
Ground water levels in various parts of the Country are declining because of continuous withdrawal due to reasons such as increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization & urbanization, less amount of recharge due to deficient rainfall etc.
(c) Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including replenishing ground water is primarily States’ responsibility. Among other initiatives, Government of Tamil Nadu has launched the ‘Kudimaramath’ water scheme for constructing and maintaining water bodies by the local communities.
Contd…P/2
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Hon’ble Prime Minister has written a letter to all sarpanchs on 08.06.2019 regarding the importance of water conservation and harvesting and exhorted them to adopt all appropriate measures to make water conservation a mass movement.
Government of India has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan which is a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including ground water conditions in the water stressed blocks.
Other steps taken by the Central Government to control ground water depletion are at the following URL: http://mowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_Jun2019.pdf.
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