Lok Sabha Question No. 1487 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Water Management
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Shrirang Appa Barne, PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE, DHARMENDRA YADAV, ANANDRAO  ADSUL, SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 1487 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## WATER MANAGEMENT

1487. SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE DR. PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE SRI DHARMENDRA YADAV SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- a) whether the management of water, particularly its recycling and reuse is crucial for future urban planning and policy.
- b) if so, the facts in this regard.
- c)  whether there is a need for effective cooperation between the centre and states in water management and if so, the steps taken by the NITI Aayog in this regard;
- d)  whether  NITI  Aayog  has  entered  into  a  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MoU)  with Singapore  Cooperation  Enterprise  to  develop  recycled  water  as  part  of  sustainable  and diverse water portfolio; and
- e) if so, the facts thereof ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMEICALS AND FERTILIZERS

## (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a) and (b)  Yes. Water happens to be a limited resource whereas the demand for the same is increasing with time. Increasing population, rapid industrialization, depletion of ground water source and increasing water pollution levels put pressure on the available water resources and pose challenge for sustainable management of water. The Recycled and Reuse of water after treating  for  Drinking  and  Non-Drinking  purposes  presents  itself  as  a  potential  solution  for augmenting water supply in the Cities, on a sustainable basis.

(c) Yes. NITI Aayog has developed a Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) in June 2018 which aims to track the performance of the States/UTs vis-à-vis Demand and supply management of water, so that timely corrective measures can be undertaken. The CWMI is an annual  exercise  based  on  28  key  performance  indicators  carrying  100  marks  under  9  sub- domains. Out of the total 100 marks, 10 marks have been ascribed to 'Urban Water Supply and Sanitation' and 15 marks are allocated to 'Policy and Governance'.

(d) and (e) Yes. Recycling and reuse has been widely practiced in Singapore, where almost the entire water is recycled for reuse. Such an approach would not only reduce the pressure on  other  water  sources,  but  would  also  offer  a  sustainable  solution  for  water  resource management. However, this requires extensive Capacity Building of the City Managers and other stakeholders. Singapore has successfully been able to transform their urban waterscape over the last four decades, and their expertise would be a great opportunity for us to learn and develop recycled water as part of sustainable and diverse water portfolio, by customizing it in the Indian context.

In  the  year  2015-17,  NITI  Aayog  had  collaborated  with  Singapore  Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) under which capacity building programmes were arranged for participants from seven States. As an outcome of the same, Baseline Framework for Water Recycling was also prepared and shared with all the States/UTs. This was appreciated by the States/UTs who also expressed  their interest to participate  in  such  capacity  building  programmes  in future.  Keeping the same in view, NITI Aayog has again entered into an MoU with SCE to launch the second phase of Urban Management Programme (UMP). The MoU for the same was signed in May 2018.

The second phase of the UMP focussing on the thematic area of 'Capacity Building Programme  in  Urban  Management  (Water  Recycling  and  Reuse)"  was  launched  on  26 th November 2018 in New Delhi followed by a two day capacity building workshop. As per the agreement under the collaboration document, three more workshops on various aspects of the theme would follow in the next one year including an exposure visit to Singapore and also a one day Review and Closing Programme. The collaboration document also envisages that the participating States would submit their proposal for undertaking a Pilot Project for Recycle and Reuse of Water for any of the cities in their State.  As a part of the Programme, the best proposal received for Recycle and Reuse of water in a city shall be selected for becoming the pilot project and for which handholding would be done by the experts in developing a model project document which is likely to be generic enough to be applied to various States/Cities across  India.  Eight  States/UTs  have  been  selected  for  the  Programme  through  a  challenge method.

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