Question : Contaminated Drinking Water

(a) the details and number of the habitations, districts and States in the country including Bihar and West Bengal affected by excessive arsenic, fluoride and other chemicals in drinking water indicating the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government to remove these chemicals in drinking water to check such health hazards and the outcome thereof, State/UT-wise;

(b) the details of the per capita availability of safe drinking water along with the number of households having proper drainage facility and tap water facility, State-wise;

(c) the manner in which the National Water Sub Quality Mission improves the provision of safe drinking water where the arsenic content is high along with the measures taken by the Government to ensure access to safe drinking water in rural areas;

(d) whether some cases of adverse effects on health due to presence of such chemicals in drinking water have also been reported in the country and if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and

(e) whether the Union Government is providing any special assistance to these States in this regard and if so, the details thereof and the targets set for these States/ UTs in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATEFOR MINISTRY OF DRINKING WATER & SANITATION
(SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA)

(a) to (e) : Rural drinking water supply is a state subject. For improving the coverage of safe drinking water to rural population, this Ministry supplements the efforts of the states by providing them with technical and financial assistance through the centrally sponsored National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). It is the State Government who plan, design, approve, execute and operate & maintain the schemes for providing safe drinking water to rural population. The funds provided to the States under NRDWP can be utilized for coverage and tackling water quality problems with priority to arsenic and fluoride affected habitations.The existence of arsenic, fluoride, iron, nitrate, salinity and heavy metal in ground water based drinking water sources is geo-genic in nature.State / UT-wise number of fluoride, arsenic, iron, nitrate, salinity & heavy metals affected habitations including Bihar and West Bengal States, as reported by the States into Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry as on 19th December, 2017 is at Annexure-I.

The Ministry has informed all the States to commission surface water based piped water supply schemes in all water quality affected habitations as a long term sustainable solution. However, since commissioning of Piped Water Supply projects may take 3-5 years and the rural people cannot be put to risk of consuming contaminated water during this period, all States have been advised to install community water purification plants. This is being done as a short term immediate measure for providing 8-10 lpcd (litre per capita per day) of safe water for drinking and cooking purpose only. On recommendation of NITI Aayog, the Government of India had released Rs 800 crore in March 2016 to provide community water purification plants in the remaining arsenic and fluoride affected habitations. In addition, funds to the tune of Rs.100 Crore each are also provided for tackling arsenic and fluoride problems in West Bengal and Rajasthan respectively for the last mile connectivity in commissioning surface water based piped water supply schemes.
Under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) guidelines, the per capita norm for drinking water in rural areas is at least 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd). As per information provided by States / UTs on Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of Ministry, as on 19th December,2017, out of total rural habitations in the country, 77.41 % habitations were fully covered with the availability of 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd), 18.37% habitations were Partially covered with the availability of water less than 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd) and 4.21% habitations were Quality affected, which are yet to be addressed. State / UT-wise number of habitations in the category of fully covered, partially covered and quality affected, as reported by the states into IMIS of the Ministry as on 19th December,2017 is at Annexure-II.
State/UT wise percentage of household connections with piped water supply (PWS), as reported by the states into IMIS of the Ministry as on 18th December,2017 is at Annexure-III.
The State-wise combined details of per capita availability of safe drinking water along with the number of households having proper drainage facility and tap water facility is not maintained by this Ministry. Prolonged consumption of fluoride in drinking water may lead to dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis. Disease surveillance including fluorosis mitigation is in the mandate of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis (NPPCF).

Further, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation had launched the National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) on 22nd March 2017 under NRDWP to provide safe drinking water to about 28,000 arsenic / fluoride affected habitations over a span of 4 years, subject to availability of funds. So far under NWQSM Rs. 1814.13 Crore have been released to 15 states, including Bihar and West Bengal and 1,250 arsenic / fluoride affected habitations have been provided safe drinking water.

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