Lok Sabha Question No. 270 (STARRED), answered on 2017-08-03
Subject: Depletion of Ground Water Level
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: PRATIMA MONDAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *270

ANSWERED ON 03.0 8.201 7

## DEPLETION OF GROUND WATER LEVEL

## *270. SHRIMATI PRATIMA MONDAL

Will the Minister of WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the ground water level in the country is depleting very fast as the rate of ground water is faster than the rate it can be recha rged and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has initiated any action plan or formulated a policy in this r
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) whether the Government is planning to make rain water harvesting mandatory as an effective counter measure to check the depletion of ground water level and if so, the details there

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER FOR WATER  RESOURCES, RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND  GANGA REJUVENATION ( SUSHRI UMA BHARTI)

- (a) to  (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART S (a) TO (d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. *270 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2017 IN LOK SABHA REGARDING ' DEPLETION  OF  GROUND WATER  LEVEL' ASKED  BY SHRIMATI PRATIMA MONDAL, HON'BLE M.P : (a) Water level decline can be mainly attributed to increased dependence on ground water the growing demand for agriculture, industrialization and urbanization. As per latest Ground Water ResourceA ssessment  (2013), carried  out  jointly  by Central  Ground  Water  Board (CGWB) and State  Government s, the Annual  Replenishable  Ground  Water  Resource  of  the C ountry  is  447 billion cubic meter (BCM) and the Net Annual Ground Water Availability is 411 BCM. Out of which,228 BCM is used for irrigation purposeand 25 BCM for domestic and industrial uses . The Stage of Ground Water Development ,which is the r atio of Annual Ground Water Draft and Net Ground Water Availability is 62%. Out o f 6584 assessment units in the C ountry, 1034 units have been categorized as 'Over - exploit ed',    253  units  as  'Critical', 681 units  as    'Semi -critical'  and 4520 units as 'Safe'. Details are givenat Annexure . (b) to (d) The National Water Policy (2012) formulated by Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR, inter - alia, advocates conservation, promotion and protection of water and highlights for  augmenting the availability of water through rain water harvesting, direct use of other  management measures. Ministry of Water Resour ces, RD & GR has circulated a Model Bill to all the States/UTs enable them to enact suitable ground water legislation for its regulation and developm includes provision of rain water harvesting. So far, 15 States/UTs have adopted and implement ed the  g round  water  legislation  on  the lines  of  Model  bill. 30  States/UTs  have  made  rain  water harvesting  mandatory  by  enacting  laws  or  by  formulating  rules  &  regulations or  by  including provisions in b uilding bye - laws or through suitable Government Order s.

*****

## Annexure  referredto in  reply  to Starred  Q.No.*270 to  be  answered  in  Lok  Sabha  on 03.08. 2017 regarding 'Depletion of Ground Water Level'

## CATEGORIZATION OF BLOCKS/ MANDALS/ TALUKS IN INDIA (2013)

| Sl.No.   | States / Union Territories   | Total No. of Assessed Units   | Safe   | Safe   | Semi- Critical   | Semi- Critical   | Critical   | Critical   | Over- Exploited   | Over- Exploited   |
|----------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------|--------|------------------|------------------|------------|------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| Sl.No.   | States / Union Territories   | Total No. of Assessed Units   | Nos.   | %      | Nos.             | %                | Nos.       | %          | Nos.              | %                 |
|          | States                       |                               |        |        |                  |                  |            |            |                   |                   |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh               | 670                           | 497    | 74     | 54               | 8                | 17         | 3          | 61                | 9                 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh            | 11                            | 11     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 3        | Assam                        | 27                            | 27     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 4        | Bihar                        | 534                           | 520    | 97     | 14               | 3                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh                 | 146                           | 125    | 86     | 18               | 12               | 2          | 1          | 1                 | 1                 |
| 6        | Delhi                        | 27                            | 5      | 19     | 7                | 26               | 0          | 0          | 15                | 56                |
| 7        | Goa                          | 12                            | 12     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 8        | Gujarat                      | 223                           | 175    | 78     | 9                | 4                | 6          | 3          | 23                | 10                |
| 9        | Haryana                      | 119                           | 30     | 25     | 11               | 9                | 14         | 12         | 64                | 54                |
| 10       | Himachal Pradesh             | 8                             | 6      | 75     | 0                | 0                | 1          | 13         | 1                 | 13                |
| 11       | Jammu & Kashmir              | 22                            | 22     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 12       | Jharkhand                    | 260                           | 244    | 94     | 10               | 4                | 2          | 1          | 4                 | 2                 |
| 13       | Karnataka                    | 176                           | 98     | 56     | 21               | 12               | 14         | 8          | 43                | 24                |
| 14       | Kerala                       | 152                           | 131    | 86     | 18               | 12               | 2          | 1          | 1                 | 1                 |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh               | 313                           | 228    | 73     | 58               | 19               | 2          | 1          | 25                | 8                 |
| 16       | Maharashtra                  | 353                           | 324    | 92     | 19               | 5                | 1          | 0          | 9                 | 3                 |
| 17       | Manipur                      | 9                             | 9      | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 18       | Meghalaya                    | 11                            | 11     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 19       | Mizoram                      | 22                            | 22     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 20       | Nagaland                     | 11                            | 11     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 21       | Odisha                       | 314                           | 308    | 98     | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 22       | Punjab                       | 138                           | 26     | 19     | 3                | 2                | 4          | 3          | 105               | 76                |
| 23       | Rajasthan                    | 248                           | 44     | 18     | 28               | 11               | 9          | 4          | 164               | 66                |
| 24       | Sikkim                       | -                             | -      | -      | -                | -                | -          | -          | -                 | -                 |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu                   | 1139                          | 429    | 38     | 212              | 19               | 105        | 9          | 358               | 31                |
| 26       | Telangana                    | 443                           | 311    | 70     | 74               | 17               | 12         | 3          | 46                | 10                |
| 27       | Tripura                      | 39                            | 39     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh                | 820                           | 603    | 74     | 45               | 5                | 59         | 7          | 113               | 14                |
| 29       | Uttarakhand                  | 18                            | 16     | 89     | 1                | 6                | 1          | 6          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 30       | West Bengal                  | 268                           | 191    | 71     | 76               | 28               | 1          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
|          | Total (States)               | 6533                          | 4475   | 68     | 678              | 10               | 252        | 4          | 1033              | 16                |
|          | Union Territories            |                               |        |        |                  |                  |            |            |                   |                   |
| 1        | Andaman & Nicobar            | 34                            | 34     | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 2        | Chandigarh                   | 1                             | 1      | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 3        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli         | 1                             | 1      | 100    | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 4        | Daman & Diu                  | 2                             | 1      | 50     | 0                | 0                | 1          | 50         | 0                 | 0                 |
| 5        | Lakshadweep                  | 9                             | 6      | 67     | 3                | 33               | 0          | 0          | 0                 | 0                 |
| 6        | Puducherry                   | 4                             | 2      | 50     | 0                | 0                | 0          | 0          | 1                 | 25                |
|          | Total (UTs)                  | 51                            | 45     | 88     | 3                | 6                | 1          | 2          | 1                 | 2                 |
|          | Grand Total                  | 6584                          | 4520   | 69     | 681              | 10               | 253        | 4          | 1034              | 16                |