(a) whether the Government is aware that there is a decline in ground water level in the country and there is a need to sustainably manage it;
(b) if so, the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard; and
(c) the measures taken by the Government to provide safe and adequate drinking water to all rural households in the country?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
(SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)
(a) & (b) Ground water levels in some parts of the Country are declining because of continuous withdrawal necessitated by increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization & urbanization etc.
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the Country on a regional scale, through a network of monitoring wells. In order to assess the long term fluctuation in ground water level, the water level data collected by CGWB during November 2020 has been compared with the decadal mean of November (2010-2019). Analysis of water level data (Annexure) indicates that about 38% of the wells monitored have registered decline in ground water levels, mostly in the range of 0.0 – 2.0 m. Further, about 62 % wells have also registered rise in groundwater levels mostly in the range of 0.0 - 2.0 m.
Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation & water harvesting in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility. However, the important measures taken by the Central Government for conservation, management of ground water and effective implementation of rain water harvesting in the country are available at the following URL:http://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_Feb2021.pdf. Some of the important initiatives in this regard are listed below.
Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019, 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
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work in close collaboration with district level officials to undertake suitable interventions. In addition ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain’ campaign has been launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 22 March 2021.
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is implementing National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM), which envisages mapping of aquifers (water bearing formations), their characterization and development of Aquifer Management Plans to facilitate sustainable management of Ground Water Resources. The State-wise information is shared with States/Uts for implementation.
Ministry of Jal shakti, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR (DoWR, RD & GR) is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), a Rs.6,000.00 crore Central Sector Scheme, for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation. Atal Jal is being implemented in 81 water stressed districts and 8774 Gram Panchayats of seven States viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Central Government supports construction of water harvesting and conservation works primarily through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana – Watershed Development Component (PMKSY-WDC).
Further, a number of States have done notable work in the field of water conservation/harvesting for sustainable management of water resources. 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, Jal Jeevan Hariyali in Bihar, ‘Jal Hi Jeevan’ in Haryana among others.
(c) Government of India in partnership with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) since August, 2019 to provide potable tap water supply of prescribed quality to every rural household in the country by 2024. Under JJM, while planning water supply schemes to provide tap water supply to house-holds, priority is given to quality-affected habitations. While allocating the funds to States/ UTs in a particular financial year, 10% weightage is given to the population residing in habitations affected by chemical contaminants including Arsenic and Fluoride, as on 31st March of the preceding Financial Year.
Since, planning, implementation and commissioning of piped water supply schemes based on a safe water source may take time, purely as an interim measure, States/ UTs have been advised to install community water purification plants (CWPPs) in such habitations, to provide potable water to every household at the rate of 8–10 litre per capita per day (lpcd) to meet their drinking and cooking requirements.
Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation had launched a National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) on 22nd March, 2017 as a part of National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), which has now been subsumed under Jal Jeevan Mission, to provide safe drinking water to 27,544 Arsenic/ Fluoride affected rural habitations in the country.
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ANNEXURE
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Unstarred Question No. 2841 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 05.08.2021 regarding “Decline in Ground Water Level”.
State-wise Decadal Water Level Fluctuation with Mean [November (2010 to 2019] and November 2020
S. No. Name of State No. of wells Analysed Rise Fall Rise Fall Wells showing no change
0-2 m 2-4 m >4 m 0-2 m 2-4 m >4 m
No % No % No % No % No % No % No % No % No %
1 Andhra Pradesh 688 395 57.4 92 13.4 38 5.5 146 21.2 12 1.7 5 0.7 525 76 163 24 0 0
2 Arunachal Pradesh 3 3 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 100 0 0 0 0
3 Assam 158 113 71.5 5 3.2 2 1.3 35 22.2 3 1.9 0 0.0 120 76 38 24 0 0
4 Bihar 536 284 53.0 41 7.6 4 0.7 184 34.3 17 3.2 6 1.1 329 61 207 39 0 0
5 Chandigarh 11 3 27.3 2 18.2 0 0.0 5 45.5 0 0.0 1 9.1 5 45 6 55 0 0
6 Chhattisgarh 700 261 37.3 41 5.9 15 2.1 312 44.6 53 7.6 18 2.6 317 45 383 55 0 0
7 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 17 11 64.7 2 11.8 1 5.9 3 17.6 0 0.0 0 0.0 14 82 3 18 0 0
8 Daman & Diu 9 7 77.8 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 22.2 0 0.0 0 0.0 7 78 2 22 0 0
9 Delhi 80 11 13.8 3 3.8 4 5.0 31 38.8 19 23.8 12 15.0 18 23 62 78 0 0
10 Goa 65 7 10.8 0 0.0 1 1.5 50 76.9 7 10.8 0 0.0 8 12 57 88 0 0
11 Gujarat 736 279 37.9 93 12.6 116 15.8 179 24.3 49 6.7 20 2.7 488 66 248 34 0 0
12 Haryana 312 83 26.6 5 1.6 7 2.2 94 30.1 44 14.1 78 25.0 95 30 216 69 1 0
13 Himachal Pradesh 88 31 35.2 3 3.4 2 2.3 47 53.4 3 3.4 2 2.3 36 41 52 59 0 0
14 Jammu & Kashmir 163 42 25.8 3 1.8 2 1.2 106 65.0 9 5.5 1 0.6 47 29 116 71 0 0
15 Jharkhand 276 162 58.7 42 15.2 17 6.2 49 17.8 5 1.8 1 0.4 221 80 55 20 0 0
16 Karnataka 1316 632 48.0 181 13.8 123 9.3 325 24.7 33 2.5 22 1.7 936 71 380 29 0 0
17 Kerala 1334 537 40.3 24 1.8 6 0.4 738 55.3 23 1.7 6 0.4 567 43 767 57 0 0
18 Madhya Pradesh 1294 594 45.9 160 12.4 43 3.3 372 28.7 83 6.4 42 3.2 797 62 497 38 0 0
19 Maharashtra** 3611 1815 50.3 592 16.4 262 7.3 869 24.1 53 1.5 20 0.6 2669 74 942 26 0 0
20 Meghalaya 23 13 56.5 1 4.3 0 0.0 9 39.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 14 61 9 39 0 0
21 Nagaland 2 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 50.0 1 50.0 0 0.0 0 0 2 100 0 0
22 Odhisha 1204 762 63.3 47 3.9 6 0.5 366 30.4 19 1.6 3 0.2 815 68 388 32 1 0
23 Pondicherry 6 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 4 66.7 2 33.3 0 0.0 0 0 6 100 0 0
24 Punjab 250 55 22.0 10 4.0 3 1.2 89 35.6 38 15.2 54 21.6 68 27 181 72 1 0
25 Rajasthan 962 271 28.2 89 9.3 69 7.2 288 29.9 105 10.9 137 14.2 429 45 530 55 3 0
26 Tamil Nadu 629 211 33.5 64 10.2 44 7.0 192 30.5 55 8.7 62 9.9 319 51 309 49 1 0
27 Telangana 549 200 36.4 121 22.0 177 32.2 45 8.2 3 0.5 3 0.5 498 91 51 9 0 0
28 Tripura 21 18 85.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 9.5 1 4.8 0 0.0 18 86 3 14 0 0
29 Uttar Pradesh 632 264 41.8 43 6.8 14 2.2 240 38.0 48 7.6 23 3.6 321 51 311 49 0 0
30 Uttarakhand 47 13 27.7 2 4.3 1 2.1 21 44.7 8 17.0 2 4.3 16 34 31 66 0 0
31 West Bengal 633 264 41.7 65 10.3 42 6.6 167 26.4 45 7.1 49 7.7 371 59 261 41 1 0
Total 16355 7341 44.9 1731 10.6 999 6.1 4971 30.4 738 4.5 567 3.5 10071 62 6276 38 8 0
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