Lok Sabha Question No. 747 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-20
Subject: Shortage of Water
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: MEENAKASHI LEKHI

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

## LOK SABHA

## UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 747

ANSWERED ON 20 .0 7.201 7

## SHORTAGE OF WATER

## 747. SHRIMATI MEENAKASHI LEKHI

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

(a) whether there has been acute shortage of water in many parts of the country during the last the details thereof;

(b)  whether  the Union  Government  has  received  plans/proposals  from  any  State/Union  Territory  r financial assistance for providing water or enhancing water supply in the areas hard hit by water (c) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by t he Union Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES,  RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND  GANGA REJUVENATION ( DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN )

(a)  to (c)    The  average  annual  water  availability  of  any  region  or  country  is  largely  depend -meteorological and geological factors and is generally constant. As per the National Commissio Water  Resources  Development  (NCIWRD)  report, he  total  water  availability  of  India  received precipitation is about 4000 Billion cubic meter (BCM) per annum. After evaporation, 1869 BCM wate as natural runoff. Due to geological and other factors, the utilizable water availability is limited to 1123 BCM per annum, comprising of 690 BCM of surface water and 433 BCM of replenishable ground water. Howev available  per  person  is  dependent  on  population  of  the  country  and  for  India,  water  availab reducing prog ressively due to increase in population.

The average annual per capita water availability in the years 2001 and 2011 was assessed meters and 1545 cubic meters respectively which may reduce further to 1341 and 1140 in the years respectively.

Annual  per - capita  water  av ailability  of  less  than  1700  cubic  meters  is  considered  as  wat condition, whereas annual per -capita water availability below 1000 cubic meters is considered as a w condition. Due to high temporal and spatial variation of precipitat ion, the water availability of many region country is much below the national average and can be considered as water stressed / water scarce

Ministry  of  Drinking  Water  and  Sanitation  (MoDWS)  takes  immediate  steps  to  tackle  the of drinking water as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). States are requested to prepare co as per the SOP and execute the same to mitigate the scarcity of water. As a long term solutio directed the States to cover the ru ral households with piped water supply. MoDWS has prepared strategi for providing drinking water supply in rural areas of the country for the period 2011 - 22. By 2022, the goal is to cover 90 percent of rural households with piped water supply.

Rural drinking  water  supply  is  a  State  subject.  Under  National  Rural  Drinking  Water (NRDWP), the States are empowered to plan, approve and implement rural drinking water supply projects. The schemes / projects to be taken up in a State are a pproved  by  State  Level  Scheme  Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) and they do not come to the Centre for approval. Hence, project - wise funds are not released to  States  under  NRDWP  and  accordingly,  there  is  no  question  of  non - approval  or  delay  in  drinking  wate projects.  MoDWS  releases  funds  to  States  based  on  pre - approved  criteria  under  NRDWP  for  providing  saf drinking water in rural areas of the country.