(a) whether there is constant depletion in ground water level in various parts of the country inclduing Punjab and Uttar Pradesh;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise along with the reasons therefor; and
(c) the steps taken/to be taken by the Government to deal with this critical situation?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) to (c) 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 etc.
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) carries out ground water monitoring four times a year in different States. In order to assess the declining/rising trend in water level on a long-term basis, pre-monsoon water level data 2019 has been compared with the decadal average (2009-2018) water level. Analysis of data indicates decline in ground water level in about 61% of the wells being monitored. State-wise details are given in Annexure which includes Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
Water being a State subject, efforts to conserve and manage ground water is primarily States responsibility. A number of States have done notable work in this regard. Of these, mention can be made of ‘Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan’ in Rajasthan, ‘Jalyukt Shibar’ in Maharashtra, ‘Sujalam Sufalam Abhiyan’ in Gujarat, ‘Mission Kakatiya’ in Telangana, Neeru Chettu’ in Andhra Pradesh among others.
Government of India launched 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 of 256 districts in India. In this regard, teams of officers from Central Government along-with technical officers from Ministry of Jal Shakti were deputed to visit water stressed districts and to work in close collaboration with district level officials to undertake suitable interventions.
Other steps taken by the Central Government to control water depletion and promote rain water harvesting / conservation are at the following URL:
http://mowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_Jun2019.pdf
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ANNEXURE
Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of Unstarred Q. No. 845 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 21.11.2019 regarding “DEPLETION IN GROUND WATER LEVEL”’
S. No. Name of State No. of wells Analysed Rise Fall Wells showing no change
Rise
Min Max No % No % No %
1 Andhra Pradesh 714 0.01 7.26 194 27 518 73 2 0.3
2 Arunachal Pradesh 18 0.54 2.45 2 11 16 89 0 0.0
3 Assam 230 0.01 7.1 111 48 119 52 0 0.0
4 Bihar 619 0.01 5.34 195 32 419 68 5 0.8
5 Chandigarh 12 0.01 2.47 4 33 8 67 0 0.0
6 Chhattisgarh 602 0.01 14.65 237 39 352 58 13 2.2
7 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 18 0.08 2.39 2 11 16 89 0 0.0
8 Daman & Diu 11 0.03 2.81 5 45 5 45 1 9.1
9 Delhi 73 0 13.23 36 49 37 51 0 0.0
10 Goa 64 0.01 8.29 18 28 46 72 0 0.0
11 Gujarat 657 0.01 12.36 244 37 413 63 0 0.0
12 Haryana 279 0.01 8 94 34 184 66 1 0.4
13 Himachal Pradesh 101 0.04 6.63 81 80 20 20 0 0.0
14 Jammu & Kashmir 204 0.01 4.29 86 42 118 58 0 0.0
15 Jharkhand 271 0.03 5.31 103 38 168 62 0 0.0
16 Karnataka 1098 0.01 14.72 217 20 881 80 0 0.0
17 Kerala 1427 0.0 7.01 661 46 762 53 4 0.3
18 Madhya Pradesh 1099 0.01 17.72 532 48 567 52 0 0.0
19 Maharashtra 1645 0.0 18.42 401 24 1241 75 3 0.2
20 Meghalaya 53 0.01 6.2 39 74 14 26 0 0.0
21 Odhisha 1064 0.01 7.07 730 69 334 31 0 0.0
22 Pondicherry 6 0 0 6 100 0 0.0
23 Punjab 245 0.0 15.11 74 30 170 69 1 0.4
24 Rajasthan 893 0.0 14 301 34 588 66 4 0.4
25 Tamil Nadu 612 0.0 11.53 177 29 318 52 117 19.1
26 Telangana 557 0.01 10.15 188 34 366 66 3 0.5
27 Tripura 75 0.01 3.99 31 41 44 59 0 0.0
28 Uttar Pradesh 581 0.03 12.64 157 27 423 73 1 0.2
29 Uttarakhand 42 0.01 5.45 15 36 27 64 0 0.0
30 West Bengal 358 0.03 8.57 178 50 177 49 3 0.8
Total 13628 5113 38 8357 61 158 1.2
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