THE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES (SHRI ARJUN CHARAN SETHI)
(a) to (d ) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PARTS (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO.452 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2000
The long term observations made by the Central Ground Water
Board have shown a situation of fall in the level of ground water
in various parts of the country. The names of the
States/districts having pockets where fall in the ground water
level for more than 4 metre (1980-99) has been observed are
indicated in Annexure. Fall in the level of ground water
ranging from 0.40 to 2.32 metre during pre-monsoon and from 0.05
to 4.0 metre in post-monsoon period in the State of Andhra
Pradesh has been observed during (1980-99).
The Central Ground Water Board has established 14,981
national hydrological monitoring stations in various States to
monitor the ground water level. The number of national
hydrological monitoring stations set up by the Central Ground
Water Board in Andhra Pradesh is 1100, while the State Ground
Water Organisation has established 3611 monitoring stations in
Andhra Pradesh.
It is not the function of Central Ground Water Authority
(CGWA) to prepare reports regarding water levels with the data
provided by the hydrological monitoring stations. The Central
Ground Water Authority has been set up under the
Environment(Protection) Act, 1986 for the purpose of regulation
and control of ground water management and development.
It is the Central Ground Water Board, which prepares reports
on the water level on the basis of measurements taken from the
national hydrological monitoring stations four times in a year
and a “year book†is prepared by the end of the year.
Water being a State subject, steps to check the declining
trend in ground water level is to be taken by the State
Governments. In order to prevent the decline in the levels of
ground water, the Government of Andhra Pradesh have taken up
recharging measures under the Neeru-Meeru Programme since May,
2000. The first phase of this programme is completed. The State
Government is also implementing various watershed development
programmes.
The Central Ground Water Board has sanctioned five
artificial recharge schemes in the State of Andhra Pradesh under
the Central Sector Scheme on artificial recharge of ground water.
The Central Ground Water Authority has also organised mass
awareness programmes in the districts of Nalgonda and
Mehboobnagar about the need for protection and conservation of
ground water.
The other steps taken by the Central Government to check
decline in the ground water level include:-
(i) Constitution of Central Ground Water Authority under the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for regulation and control of
ground water management and development.
(ii) Circulation of a Model Bill to all the States/Union
Territories, to enable them to enact suitable legislation for
regulation and control of ground water development.
(iii) Circulation of Manual on artificial recharge of ground
water to the States/Union Territories to enable them to formulate
area specific artificial recharge schemes to check the declining
trend in ground water levels.
(iv) Implementation of a Central Sector Scheme on studies in
artificial recharge of ground water in some ‘Over-exploited’ and
‘Dark’ blocks of the country.
NAME OF THE STATE/DISTRICT HAVING POCKETS WITH FALL IN GROUND
WATER LEVEL OF MORE THAN 4 METRES (1980-99)
SL.NO. STATE DISTRICTS
1. ANDHRA PRADESH Shrikakulam, Chittor
2. BIHAR East Singhbhum, Ranchi, Samastipur, Chapra, Dharbhanga
3. HARYANA Kurushetra, Kaithal, Mehandargarh, Jind
4. KARNATAKA Bijapur, Belgaum, Dharwar, Bellari, Shimoga, Bangalore, Mysore, Gulbarga
5. MADHYA PRADESH Ujjain, Dewas, Shajahanpur, Dhar, Sagar, Bilaspur, Raipur, Surguja, Guna, Narsinghpur
6. MAHARASHTRA Akola, Nagpur, Jalgaon, Osmanabad, Satara, Aurangabad, Sangli, Buldhana, Amravati
7 ORISSA Koraput, Mayurbhanj
8. PUNJAB Amritsar, Jallandhar, Ferozpur, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur, Faridkot, Fatehgarh.
9. RAJASTHAN Nagaur, Bikaner, Jaipur
10. TAMIL NADU Salem, South Arcot, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tanjavour, Paddukottai, Kamrajar, Thirunaganar
11. UTTAR PRADESH Gonda, Farukhabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Fetehpur, Allahabad, Banda, Nainital
12. WEST BENGAL Purlia, Midnapur
