Lok Sabha Question No. 252 (STARRED), answered on 2019-12-05
Subject: Per Capita Availability of Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Gaurav Gogoi

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *252

ANSWERED ON 05 . 12.201 9

## PER CAPITA AVAILABIL ITY OF WATER

## *252. SHRI GAURAV GOGOI

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a) the per capita availability of water over the last twenty years;
- (b) whether the per capita availability of water has rapidly declined over the last five ye details thereof;
- (c)whether several cities in addition to Chennai and Bangalore are likely to face a severe w if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Union Government has provided/introduced any assistance or knowledge sharing State Governments t o avert this impending crisis; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF JAL SHAKTI

(SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

- (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e) OF  STARRED  QUESTION NO. *252  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  05.12.2019  REGARDING ' PER  CAPITA AVAILABILITY OF WATER ' .

(a) to (c) The per capita water availability in the country is reducing due to increase in population. The average annual per capita water availability in the years 2001 and 2011 was assessed as 1816 and 1545 cubic meters respectively which may further reduce to 1486 cubic meters, 1367 cub 1282 cubic meters and 1228 cu bi  meters in the years 2021, 2031, 2041 and 2051 respectively.

Ground  water  level  in  various  parts  of  the  country  is  declining  because  of withdrawal due to reasons such as increased demand of fresh water for various uses, indus urbanization, deficient rainfall, etc. Central Ground Water Board ( CGWB) is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the Country on a regional scale, through a network of monit including major cities like Chennai and Bangalore. In order to assess the decline in water l -term  basis ,  pre - monsoon  water  level  data  collected  by  CGWB  during  pre - monsoon  2019  has  been compared with the decadal average (2009 - 2018). Analysis of water level data indicates about 66% o wells monitored have registered decline in ground water levels, mostly in the range of 0 - 2 m. Decline of more than 4 m has also been observed in isolated pockets in parts of following Urban areas i viz. Mumbai suburban, Delhi, Hyderabad, Nasik, Pune, Indore, Gwalior, Guwahati, Ludhiana, A Faridabad, Vadod ara, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Meerut.

(d) & (e) Water being a State subject, steps to avert water crisis are primarily undertaken by State  Governments. Central  Government  supplements  the  efforts  of  the  State  Gov ernments  through various schemes and programme.

Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti  has  launched  Jal  Shakti  Abhiyan  (JSA) - a campaign  for  water conservation and water security. During the campaign, officers, groundwater experts and sci the Government of I ndia will work together with State and district officials in India's most water - stressed districts for water conservation and water resource management.

A meeting of the State Ministers of Water Resources and Water Supply chaired by Min Jal Shak ti was held on 11 th June 2019 to review the steps taken by various States on water conse and the implementation of action plans to deal with the water supply situation, plan for wa and conservation in convergence with other programmes. State Governments were requested to complete water conservation measures.

Central Ground Water Board is implementing a nationwide programme of 'National Aquifer Mapping  and  Management  (NAQUIM)'  for  mapping  of  aquifers  (Water  bearing  formations),  their characterization and development of aquifer management plans to facilitate sustainable dev ground water resources including proper utilization of water resources. Aquifer maps and plans have been shared with the respective State Gover nment agencies.

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has prepared the Master Plan for Artificial Recha Ground Water in India, which envisages construction of 1.11 crore rain water harvesting a recharge  structures  in  the  Country  to  augment  ground  water  reso urces.The  Master  Plan  has  been circulated to the State Governments for implementation.

Further, Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has issued directives to all State take measures to promote artificial recharge of ground water / rain water har vesting.

Government of India has launched Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transform (AMRUT) on 25 th June, 2015 in select 500 cities across the country for a period of five ye 2015- 16 to 2019 - 20 with focus on development of basic civic amenities in the Mission cities. Under water supply component of the Mission, projects related to rain water harvesting, rejuvena bodies specifically for drinking water supply, recharging of ground water, etc., can be t e States/UTs to enhance water supply in the Mission cities.

Central  Water  Commission  monitors  live  storage  status  of  120  reservoirs  of  the  c weekly basis and issues weekly bulletin on every Thursday. Weekly bulletin is shared with Resources  Departments  of  concerned  states  and  also  uploaded  on  the  website  of  Centra Commission. Whenever the current storage of reservoirs, being monitored by Central Water Com in  aState  falls  below  80%  of  Normal  (Average  Storage  of  last  Ten  y e rs),  advisory  is  issued  to  th concerned  State  Government  for  judicious  use  of  available  water.  In  the  year  2019,  Cen Commission  has  issued  advisory  to  the  State  Governments  of  Gujarat,  Maharashtra,  Uttar Andhra  Pradesh,  Telangana,  Tam il  Nadu,  Jharkhand,  Karnataka,  Kerala,  Tripura  and  Uttarakhand judicious use of available water.

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