Lok Sabha Question No. 3361 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-15
Subject: National Database on Water Bodies
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: KIRRON KHER

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

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 3361

ANSWERED ON 15.0 3.201 8

## NATIONAL DATABASE ON WATER BODIES

## 3361. SHRIMATI KIRRON KHER

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

- (a)  the  recommendations  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  Water  Resources  which  have implemented by the Government under AIBP;
- (b) whether the Government plans to set up the national database on water bodies after a ce water bodies as recommended by the Committee;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to ensure utilisation of the irrigation potential ough this programme and to increase strength of the regional staff and promote better monito programme?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

( SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHW AL )

- ( a) & (d) Details in this regard are at Annexure .
- ( b) & ( c) Yes ,Madam. The objective of the census is to build up a Central level database bodies having information on their use, storage capacity, status of filling etc.

*****

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts (a)  & ( d)  of  U nstarredQ uestion  No. 3361 t o  be answered in Lok Sabha on 15 .03.2018 regarding ' National Database on Water Bodies ' .

Main  recommendation/observations  of  the  Parliamentary  Standing  Committee  on  Water Resources related to AIBP and RRR of Water Bodies contained in their Fourteenth Report o 'Review  of  the  Accelerated  Irrigation  Benefits  Programme  (AIBP)  and  steps  taken  by  t he Government for implementation of the same:

## 1. Recommendation

Sincere  and  rigorous  efforts  need  to  be  made  by  the  Ministry  for  not  only  achieving  th envisaged  under  the  AIBP  but  also  for  ensuring  the  sustainability  of  irrigation  projects  so t achieve optimum irrigation development and utilization of Irrigation Potential created in the country.

## Steps taken by the Government

Water resources projects are planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Govern per their own resou rces and priority. In order to supplement the efforts Ministry of Water Resourc Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR) provides financial assistance to State Government to encourage sustainable development and efficient management of water resources through various schemes such as Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) etc. under Pradhan MantriKrishi SinchayeeYojana (PMKSY).

During  2016 - 17,  ninety - nine  (99)  ongoing  Major/Medium  Irrigation  Projects under  PMKSY Accelerate d Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) having balance cost of Rs. 77595 cr. and Ultimate potent of 76.03 lakh ha. have been prioritized in consultation with States, for completion in phases along with their Command Area Development & Water Management (CADWM) works. For completion of these  projects  in  a  mission  mode,  funding  mechanism  under  Long  Term  Irrigation  Fund  (LTIF)  t NABARD has been approved by the Government for both Central and State share as per above estimate Further , Polavaram project of Andhra Pradesh is also funded under LTIF through NABARD.

## 2. Recommendation

To  tackle  the  issue  with  a  long - term  perspective  and  planning  to  avoid  repeated  modifications guidelines and adhocism in future.

## Steps taken by the Government

As mentioned at reply to recommendation at para1 above, during 2016 - 17, PMKSY -AIBP component has been reviewed and the process has been simplified for the prioritized projects.Some of main p as below:

- 20% cost escalation on late st approved estimated cost (AIBP component) of project as on March 2012 allowed for which, no separate clearance/TAC clearance/Investment clearance is required for fun projects.
- Fast track proforma clearance from CWC may be sufficient for proj ects where revised cost may be more than the 20% over and above approved cost as on 01.04.2012 and no separate investment clearan MOWR is required.
- Cost escalation above 20% is to be borne by the concerned State Government.  However, the St avail the same through NABARD.
- CADWM works to be implemented paripassu with AIBP works.

## 3. Recommendation

To  promptly  initiate  action  in  consultation  with  the  concerned  State  Governments  to  so issues/hurdles and efforts be made for timely completi on of the 5 National Projects which are currently und execution.  The remaining National Projects, which are at various stages of implementation, be c per the scheduled timeline.

## Steps taken by the Government

Sixteen  Projects  have  been  declare d  as  national  projects  so  far.  These  projects  are  taken  u execution  after  the  concerned  States  obtain  techno  economic  clearance,  other  statutory  clea investment clearance.

Out of these, five projects, namely Polavaram project of Andhra P radesh, Saryu Nahar Pariyojana of Uttar  Pradesh,  Gosikhurd  Irrigation  Project  of  Maharashtra,  Teesta  Barrage  Project  of  West  B ShahpurKandi Dam Project of Punjab have been taken up for execution. Gosikhurd and Saryu Nahar Pariyojna are included u nder 99 prioritized projects. Polavaram Project is also being funded under LTIF.

The progress of Teesta project has been affected due to land acquisition issue. The State Gove has constituted a High Level Task Force to suggest appropriate cause of action for execution of bal

The works of Shahpur Kandi dam project was stopped in 2014 due to interstate issues between Punja Jammu & Kashmir. An agreement has been signed by Secretaries of Irrigation Department of both the this regard. Implementation of the projects is dependent upon ratificat ion of greement and approval of revised cost estimates.

## 4. Recommendation

To take initiatives to avoid delayed release of funds under Central Assistance and also i reduction.  To ensure timely and proper implementation of CAD&WM programme and ta ke fresh measures to ensure that objectives of the Programme are achieved.

## Steps taken by the Government

Status in this regard is already given at Para 1 & 2 above.

## 5. Recommendation

To remove the encroachment and for repairing, renovating and restoring th e wa er bodies .

## Steps taken by the Government

Secretary(MOWR,  RD  &  GR)  vide  D.O.  letter  dated  26.02.2016  and  07.11.2016  requested  St Governments to take several measures for protection of water bodies including encroachment issue.

Further, detailed  draft  guidelines  for  conservation  and  protection  of  water  bodies  have circulated to Central Ministries and States/UTs.

## 6. Recommendation

The Ministry to devise a mechanism to prevent the lapses causing further delay as well stringent measures to obviate such time and cost over - runs and to prevent any further diversion / misuse/was of fund under AIBP.

The Ministry to have a separate component in AIBP fund for incentivising the States who modern water saving te chnologies and are implementing the projects under AIBP in a time bound manner.

## Steps taken by the Government

In   order to ensure that the funds released to the projects are used for intended purpo certificates and audited Statement of Exp enditure are sought from the States along with CA proposals.

CWC regularly monitor the physical and financial progress of the projects.  Apart from this monitoring  is  also  carried  out  by  Project  Management  Unit  established  under  the  Mission. NABARD  also carries out monitoring of selected projects.

As all the prioritized projects are targeted for completion in a short time frame and State provided  at  interest  rate  of  about  6%  p.a.  with  interest  subvention  by  the  Central  Governm nt,  no  furth incentivisation is envisaged at this stage.

## 7. Recommendation

The Ministry to devise strategies and take urgent steps to not only increase the creation Potential IP created but also to ensure proper utilisation of the Irrigation Potential.

To reconcile the data with respect to the Irrigation Potential since the inception of the -wise,  Year - wise  and,  Project - wise  and  maintain  them  at  one  place  so  as  to  have  a  holistic  picture progress, actua l gap between irrigation potential targeted, created and utilized.

## Steps taken by the Government

As mentioned at reply at para 2 above, CAD works are being implemented paripassu with AIBP of  99  prioritized  projects  for  proper  utilization  of  potenti al  s created.  Further,  Ministry  has  constituted Committee/Working Group regarding reassessment of Ultimate Irrigation Potential, Irrigation Potent and Irrigation Potential Utilisation in the country.

## 8. Recommendation

To take remedial action for removing all the bottlenecks in monitoring and strictly implement criteria/guidelines for monitoring the projects/Schemes under the AIBP.

To adopt carrot and stick model for penalizing those States which are not adhering to th condi tions and incentivizing those -which follow them scrupulously.

To take initiative to increase the number of Regional offices and the staff strength in avoid their adverse impact on monitoring mechanism.

To develop a modus operandi for having  systematic  synergy  between  the  physical  visits  made  a online monitoring methods.

## Steps taken by the Government

Thirteen regional offices of Central Water Commission, established in different parts of th monitoring the physical and f inancial progress of AIBP Projects.

Further,  one  nodal  officer  from  the  State  for  each  of  the  99  priority  projects  has  be forupdation  of  the  physical  and  financial  progress  of  the  project  regularly  in  the  Online Information System developed. CWC also monitors the data of the MIS regularly.

Further,  third  party  monitoring  of  these  projects  arealso  carried  outfor  assessment  of financial progress of these projects.

## 9. Recommendation

To  set  up  and  maintain  well - established  i nfrastructure/arrangements  for  obtaining  better  resolut imageries within this financial year.

To institute a system for ensuring the safety/security of data while using online monitoring

## Steps taken by the Government

BhaskaracharyaInstitute  for  Space  Application  and  Geoinfomatics  (BISAG)  under  Department Science & Technology, Government of Gujarat has been entrusted with thework of analyzing year wise wise cropped area in the command of these 99 projects using remote se nsing technologies. Further, MIS is protected as per protocol by NIC.

## 10. Recommendation

To provide States/UTs with incentives for increasing the participation of WUAs in manage water resources and Irrigation Projects.

To increase their effort to fac ilitate the formation and involvement of WUAs/local communities increasing, the incentives as well as nominate one person in each WUA to coordinate all the a promoting coordination, cooperation and participation among the farmers.

## Steps ta ken by the Government

The 'Guidelines for Central Assistance for CAD works in prioritized AIBP funded Irrigation have  been  circulated  in  January,  2017.  The  provision  under  Non - Structural  Intervention  include  one - time functional  grant  to  register ed  Water  Users'  Associations  (WUAs)  and  one - time  infrastructure  grant  to  the registered WUAs for strengthening Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM). A provision for han - holding support  for  strengthening  PIM  by  select  Social  Facilitator  (an  NGO,  or  si milar  entity  having  substantial experience in influencing village level social activities and reforms) per project, to be enga process of empanelment, has also been kept in the Guidelines.

*****