Lok Sabha Question No. 4307 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-18
Subject: Ground Water Pollution
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI,

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4307

ANSWERED ON 1 8.0 7.2019

## GROUND WATER POLLUTI ON

## 4307. DR. SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether indiscriminate use of chemicals and fertilizers during the last three years is rapidly increasing ground water pollution in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof; an d

(c) the steps taken by the Government to check the pollution of the ground water during t years?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT

## (SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA )

(a) & (b) Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) generates ground water quality data of the country on a regional scale as part of its ground water quality monitoring program.State - wise details of contamination of ground water are given at Annexure. A study by t he I ndianC ouncil of A gricultural R esearch (ICAR) indicated possibility of nitrate contamination in groundwater above the permissible limit of 10 mg NO3 -N /L due to excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers particularly in light textured soils that has conse nce on human/animal health if used for drinking purpose.

(c) Department of Agri culture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare is implementing 'Per Drop More Crop' (PDMC) component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) which is operational s 2015- 16 in the country. The PMKSY - PDMC focuses on water use efficiency at farm level through mi irrigation technologies viz. Drip and Sprinkler irrigation. Micro irrigation not only helps but also in reducing fertilizer usage through fe rtigation, labour expenses and other inputs and input besides sustaining soil health.

Further, ICAR has recommended soil test based balanced and Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) through conjunctive use of both inorganic and organic sources (man ure, bio - fertilizers etc.) of plan nutrients  to  prevent/reduce  excessive  use  of chemical  fertilizers.  In  addition,  split  applicati placement  of  fertilizers,  use  of  slow releasing  N - fertilizers  and  nitrification  inhibitors,  gr leguminous crops a nd use of Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs) are also advocated. The IC also imparts training, organizes front - line demonstrations etc. to educate farmers on all these aspec

The  Government  under  the  component  of  soil  health  ma nagement  of  National Mission  for Sustainable  Agriculture  (NMSA)  is  promoting  soil  test  based  balanced  and integrated  nutrient management in the country through judicious use of chemical fertilizers including secondary and micr nutrients  in  conjunction  wit h  organic  manures and  bio - fertilizers  for  improving  soil  health  and productivity;  up -gradation  of  skill  and knowledge  of  soil  testing  laboratory  staff,  extension  sta farmers through training and demonstrations. Recently, a National Mission on Soi l Health Card has been launched to provide soil test based fertilizer recommendations to all the farmers in the coun

The  Government  through  soil  health  management  component  of  National  Mission Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) and National Mission o n Soil Health Card is creating awareness amongs the farmers regarding the effects of imbalanced use of fertilizers including need to use c harmless fertilizers. Similarly, farmers are being educated regarding benefits of organic f ough Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern  Region (MOVCDNER)  under  NMSA.  The  Government  is  also  implementing  Nutrient  Based Subsidy  Scheme  since  2010  and  promoting  customized  and  fortified  fert ilizers  for  balanced  use  of fertilizers .

Further, the efforts/initiatives of the G overnment to improve/conserve/harvest the ground wate resource which is likely to reduce the impact of pollutants in groundwater are as under:

Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  has written  a  letter  to  all  Sarpanchs  on  08.06.2019  regardin importance of water conservation and rain harvesting and exhorted them to adopt all appropri to make water conservation a mass movement.

The  issue of  water  conservation/harvesting w as  discussed  with  the  concerned  Ministers  an officials of the State Governments by Minister ,Jal Shakti in a meeting held on 11.6.2019.

Government of India has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan which is a time bound campai a mission mode approach in tended to improve water availability including ground water condition water stressed blocks.

An 'Inter Ministerial Committee' under the Chairmanship of Secretary (WR, RD & GR) has been  constituted  to  take  forward  the  subject  of  'Water  Conservation Related  Activities  for  Optimum Utilization  of  Monsoon  Rainfall'  which  meets  from  time  to  time  to  discuss  the  issue  of  water conservation.  The  Committee  includes  officers  from  different  States/UTs.  Last  meeting  of -Ministerial Committee was held o n 01/05/2019.

C abinet  Secretary  discussed  the  issue  of  water  conservation /harvesting with  the  Chief Secretaries of the States through video - conference on 21.05.2019.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) & (b)of Unstarred Q uestion No. 4307 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 18.0 7.2019 regarding ' Ground Water Pollution '

## States Wise Number of Partly Affected Districts with different Contaminants in Ground Wate of India

| S. No.   | State/ UT         | Salinity (EC above 3000 micro mhos/ cm) (EC : Electrical Conductivit y)   | Fluori de (above 1.5 mg/l)                    | Nitrate (above 45 mg/l)                    | Arsenic (above 0.01 mg/l)               | Iron (above 1mg/l )                        | Lead (above 0.01 mg/l)                    | Cadmiu m (above 0.003 mg/l)             | Chromi um (above 0.05 mg/l)              |
|----------|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | 12                                                                        | 12                                            | 13                                         | 3                                       | 7                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 2        | Telangana         | 8                                                                         | 10                                            | 10                                         | 1                                       | 8                                          | 2                                         | 1                                       | 1                                        |
| 3        | Assam             |                                                                           | 9                                             |                                            | 19                                      | 18                                         |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 4        | Arunachal Pradesh |                                                                           |                                               |                                            |                                         | 4                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 5        | Bihar             |                                                                           | 13                                            | 10                                         | 22                                      | 19                                         |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh      | 1                                                                         | 19                                            | 12                                         | 1                                       | 17                                         | 1                                         | 1                                       | 1                                        |
| 7        | Delhi             | 7                                                                         | 7                                             | 8                                          | 2                                       |                                            | 3                                         | 1                                       | 4                                        |
| 8        | Goa               |                                                                           |                                               |                                            |                                         | 2                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 9        | Gujarat           | 21                                                                        | 22                                            | 24                                         | 12                                      | 10                                         |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 10       | Haryana           | 18                                                                        | 21                                            | 21                                         | 15                                      | 17                                         | 17                                        | 7                                       | 1                                        |
| 11       | Himachal Pradesh  |                                                                           |                                               | 6                                          | 1                                       |                                            |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 12       | Jammu & Kashmir   |                                                                           | 2                                             | 6                                          | 3                                       | 9                                          | 3                                         | 1                                       |                                          |
| 13       | Jharkhand         |                                                                           | 12                                            | 11                                         | 2                                       | 6                                          | 1                                         |                                         |                                          |
| 14       | Karnataka         | 29                                                                        | 30                                            | 29                                         | 2                                       | 22                                         |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 15       | Kerala            | 4                                                                         | 5                                             | 11                                         |                                         | 14                                         | 2                                         |                                         | 1                                        |
| 16       | Madhya Pradesh    | 18                                                                        | 43                                            | 51                                         | 8                                       | 41                                         | 16                                        |                                         |                                          |
| 17       | Maharashtra       | 25                                                                        | 17                                            | 30                                         |                                         | 20                                         | 19                                        |                                         |                                          |
| 18       | Manipur           |                                                                           | 1                                             |                                            | 2                                       | 4                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 19       | Meghalaya         |                                                                           | 1                                             |                                            |                                         | 6                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 20       | Nagaland          |                                                                           | 1                                             |                                            |                                         | 1                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
|          | Odisha            |                                                                           |                                               |                                            |                                         |                                            |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 21       |                   | 17                                                                        | 26                                            | 28                                         | 1                                       | 30                                         |                                           |                                         | 1                                        |
| 22       | Punjab            | 10                                                                        | 19                                            | 21                                         | 10                                      | 9                                          | 6                                         | 8                                       | 10                                       |
| 23       | Rajasthan         | 30                                                                        | 33                                            | 33                                         | 1                                       | 33                                         | 3                                         |                                         |                                          |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu        | 28                                                                        | 25                                            | 29                                         | 9                                       | 2                                          | 3                                         | 1                                       | 5                                        |
| 25       | Tripura           |                                                                           |                                               |                                            |                                         | 4                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 26       | Uttar Pradesh     | 13                                                                        | 34                                            | 59                                         | 28                                      | 15                                         | 10                                        | 2                                       | 3                                        |
| 27       | Uttarakhand       |                                                                           |                                               | 4                                          |                                         | 5                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 28       | West Bengal       | 6                                                                         | 8                                             | 5                                          | 9                                       | 16                                         | 6                                         | 2                                       | 2                                        |
| 29       | Andaman& Nicobar  | 1                                                                         |                                               |                                            |                                         | 2                                          |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 30       | Daman & Diu       | 1                                                                         |                                               | 1                                          | 1                                       |                                            |                                           |                                         |                                          |
| 31       | Puducherry        |                                                                           |                                               | 1                                          |                                         |                                            |                                           |                                         |                                          |
|          | Total             | Parts of 249 districts 18 states & UTs                                    | in Parts of 370 district s in 23 states & UTs | Parts of 423 district s in 23 states & UTs | Parts of 152 districts in 21 states UTs | Parts of 341 district s in 27 states & UTs | Pb in parts of 92 district s in 14 states | Cd in parts of 24 districts in 9 states | Cr in parts of 29distri cts in 10 states |

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