Lok Sabha Question No. 816 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-17
Subject: Arsenic Contaminated Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Gopal Chinayya Shetty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 816 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.09.2020

## ARSENIC CONTAMINATED WATER

## †816. SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  the  problem  of  contamination  in cities/towns/areas reporting Arsenic contaminated drinking water;

(b) the policy decisions taken by the Government to solve the problem during the last three years and the steps taken by the Government to spread country-wide awareness in this regard; and

(c)  the  details  of  districts/towns/cities/areas  which  are  in  grip  of  Arsenic  contamination, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI (SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)

(a)&(b) Government of Indiain partnership with States is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission Har  Ghar  Jal  to  enable  every  rural  household  in  the  country  to  have  potable  water  supply through Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) by 2024.

While  allocating  funds  under  JJM  to  States  &UTs,  10%  weightage  has  been  given  to  the population affected by chemical contaminants including Arsenic. States/ UTs are advised to accord priority to quality-affected habitations. Further, States are also to provide interim relief in quality-affected habitations through community water purification plants (CWPP) to meet with  drinking  and  cooking  needs  until  potable  water  supply  through  tap  connection  is provided.

Under  JJM,  upto  2%  of  the  allocation  to  States/  UTs  can  be  utilized  for  Water  Quality Monitoring & Surveillance activities (WQM&S)i.e. for setting up and strengthening of water quality testing laboratories, surveillance by community using field test kits(FTKs), awareness generation and educational programmes on water quality, etc.

In  March  2017,  National  Water  Quality  Sub-Mission  (NWQSM)  was  launched  (now subsumed  under  JJM),  with  the  aim  to  provide  safe  drinking  water  to  27,544  Arsenic/ Fluoride affected habitations in the country.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has stated that the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) launched by the Union Government on June 25, 2015, in selected 500  cities  and  towns  across  the  country  with  focus  on development  of  basic  urban infrastructure in the Mission cities, interalia includes water supply.One of the key objectives of the Mission is to ensure that every household has access to a tap connection with assured supply of water and given first priority. Under AMRUT Mission, out of the total plan size of Rs.77,640 crore, Rs.39,010 crore (50%) has been allocated to water supply.

(c) District-wise details of Arsenic-affected rural habitations is at Annexure .

****

## Annexure - referred in the reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 816 due for reply on 17.09.2020

## District-wise details of Arsenic- affected rural habitations (as on 14.09.2020)

|   S. No. | State     | District               |   Arsenic affected habitations |
|----------|-----------|------------------------|--------------------------------|
|        1 | Assam     | Baksha                 |                            703 |
|        2 | Assam     | Barpeta                |                            196 |
|        3 | Assam     | Darrang                |                             15 |
|        4 | Assam     | Dhemaji                |                             49 |
|        5 | Assam     | Dhubri                 |                             32 |
|        6 | Assam     | Golaghat               |                             98 |
|        7 | Assam     | Jorhat                 |                             91 |
|        8 | Assam     | Kokrajhar              |                              4 |
|        9 | Assam     | Lakhimpur              |                              1 |
|       10 | Assam     | Majuli                 |                            138 |
|       11 | Assam     | Nalbari                |                            513 |
|       12 | Assam     | South SalmaraMancachar |                             13 |
|       13 | Bihar     | Begusarai              |                            104 |
|       14 | Bihar     | Bhagalpur              |                             32 |
|       15 | Bihar     | Bhojpur                |                             51 |
|       16 | Bihar     | Buxar                  |                             41 |
|       17 | Bihar     | Darbhanga              |                             14 |
|       18 | Bihar     | Katihar                |                             51 |
|       19 | Bihar     | Khagaria               |                             11 |
|       20 | Bihar     | Lakhisarai             |                             33 |
|       21 | Bihar     | Munger                 |                              4 |
|       22 | Bihar     | Patna                  |                              3 |
|       23 | Bihar     | Samastipur             |                             10 |
|       24 | Bihar     | Saran                  |                             11 |
|       25 | Bihar     | Vaishali               |                             40 |
|       26 | Jharkhand | Shaibganj              |                              2 |
|       27 | Punjab    | Amritsar               |                            242 |
|       28 | Punjab    | Fatehgarh Sahib        |                              1 |
|       29 | Punjab    | Fazilka                |                              2 |
|       30 | Punjab    | Firozepur              |                             28 |
|       31 | Punjab    | Gurudaspur             |                            179 |
|       32 | Punjab    | Hoshiyarpur            |                             12 |
|       33 | Punjab    | Kapurthala             |                              5 |
|       34 | Punjab    | Ludhiana               |                              2 |
|       35 | Punjab    | Moga                   |                              2 |
|       36 | Punjab    | Patiala                |                             15 |
|       37 | Punjab    | Rupnagar               |                             28 |
|       38 | Punjab    | S A S Nagar            |                              2 |
|       39 | Punjab    | Sangrur                |                              2 |
|       40 | Punjab    | Taran Tarn             |                             94 |

|   41. | Uttar Pradesh   | Azamgarh           |   2 |
|-------|-----------------|--------------------|-----|
|    42 | Uttar Pradesh   | Bahraich           |   4 |
|    43 | Uttar Pradesh   | Ballia             |  88 |
|    44 | Uttar Pradesh   | Balrampur          |   1 |
|    45 | Uttar Pradesh   | Bareilly           |  10 |
|    46 | Uttar Pradesh   | Basti              |   7 |
|    47 | Uttar Pradesh   | Budaun             |   4 |
|    48 | Uttar Pradesh   | Deoria             |   5 |
|    49 | Uttar Pradesh   | Gorakhpur          |   4 |
|    50 | Uttar Pradesh   | Kushi Nagar        |  16 |
|    51 | Uttar Pradesh   | Lakhimpur Kheri    |  13 |
|    52 | Uttar Pradesh   | Lucknow            |   1 |
|    53 | Uttar Pradesh   | Maharajganj        |   3 |
|    54 | Uttar Pradesh   | Mau                |   1 |
|    55 | Uttar Pradesh   | Sambhal            |   1 |
|    56 | Uttar Pradesh   | Sant Kabeer Nagar  |   2 |
|    57 | Uttar Pradesh   | Siddharth Nagar    |   2 |
|    58 | West Bengal     | Bardhaman          |  25 |
|    59 | West Bengal     | Hooghly            |  24 |
|    60 | West Bengal     | Maldah             | 319 |
|    61 | West Bengal     | Murshidabad        | 369 |
|    62 | West Bengal     | Nadia              | 454 |
|    63 | West Bengal     | North 24 Paraganas | 185 |
|    64 | West Bengal     | South 24 Paraganas |   7 |