Lok Sabha Question No. 479 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-25
Subject: Iron and Arsenic Contents in Drinking Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Mohammad Jawed

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 479 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2019

## Iron and Arsenic Contents in Drinking Water

## *479. DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:

Will the Minister of Jal Shakti be pleased to state :

(a) whether drinking water available to the people in Kishanganj district through water wells/hand pumps has been found to be unsafe and unhealthy due to the presence of high iron and arsenic contents and if so, the details thereof;

(b)  whether  the  Government  has  any  schemes  to  provide  iron/arsenic  free  drinking water in and around Kishanganj district and all other districts of Bihar facing the same problem; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF JAL SHAKTI (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a)  to (c)  A Statement of reply is laid on the Table of the House.

## Statement referred to in the reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 479 due for reply on 25.07.2019

(a) As reported by the Govt. of Bihar in the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of this Ministry, there is no arsenic affected rural habitation in district. The block wise  details  of  324  nos  of  iron  affected  rural  habitations  in  kishanganj  district  is  as placed below:

| S.No.   | BlockName   |   No. Of Iron affected habitations |
|---------|-------------|------------------------------------|
| 1       | Bahadurganj |                                 56 |
| 2       | Dighalbank  |                                 51 |
| 3       | Kishanganj  |                                 34 |
| 4       | Kochadhamin |                                 52 |
| 5       | Pothia      |                                102 |
| 6       | Terhagachh  |                                 11 |
| 7       | Thakurganj  |                                 18 |
|         | Total       |                                324 |

(b)    &  (c)  Drinking  water  supply  is  a  State  subject.  For  improving  the  coverage  of  safe drinking water to rural population, this Ministry supplements the efforts of the States by providing them with technical and financial assistance through the centrally sponsored scheme National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). It is the State Governments who plan, design, approve, execute, operate & maintain the schemes for providing safe drinking water to rural population. The funds provided to the States under NRDWP can be  utilized  for  taking  up  schemes  in  water  quality  affected  areas  on  priority  including arsenic/iron  affected  areas.  An  amount  of  Rs.  234.84  Crores  was  released  to  Govt.  of Bihar under NRDWP during the year 2018-19. During  March  2016,  with  the  recommendation  of  NITI  Aayog,  an  amount  of  Rs.  1000 Crores was released to various Arsenic & Fluoride affected States/UTs for installation of Community water purification plants. An amount of Rs. 22.83 Cr. was provided to Bihar. In  addition  to  this,  this  Ministry  had  launched  the  National  Water  Quality  Sub-Mission (NWQSM) on 22 nd  March 2017 under NRDWP to provide safe drinking water to 27,544 Arsenic / Fluoride affected rural habitations in the country. An amount of Rs. 171.96 Cr. has  been  released  to  Bihar  so  far.      1077  Arsenic  &  1043  Fluoride  affected  rural habitations in the State were targeted under NWQSM.

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