Lok Sabha Question No. 492 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-04
Subject: Water Level in Rivers
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Bidyut Baran Mahato, Sudheer Gupta, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Shrirang Appa Barne

492.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI,

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 492

ANSWERED ON 04.02.2021

## WATER LEVEL IN RIVER S

SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the water level in the rivers is going down and its quality has deteriorated du g the last few years;

(b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  reasons  for  the  same  along  with  the  measures Government in this regard;

(c) whether any directive has been issued by National Green Tribunal (NGT) in this regard a det ails thereof along with the reaction of the Government thereto;

(d) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to ensure uninterrupted flow in major rivers of the country and the progress made so far in this regard; and

(e) the details of the funds spent on the cleaning of such rivers during each of the last thr current year, river and State - wise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA )

(a) to (e) There are two types of rivers in the country; (i) perennial rivers and (ii) non - perenni l rivers. In perennial rivers, water remains available throughout the year while non - perennial rivers are rain fed rive in which water flows only during the rain fall period. The flow in the rivers is dynamic and depen many  parameters  such  as  rainfall,  its  distribution  pattern  and  intensity  in  the  catchm characteristics  and quantum of withdrawals / utilizations of water. Central Water Commiss (CWC) carries  out  hydrological  exercise  on  all  important  /  major  rivers  in  the  country.  As  p available in CWC based on annual average flows of last 20 years of terminal sites of majo increasing/decreasing trend in water availabili ty was observed in the major rivers in the country.

Government of India vide Gazette Notification dated 9th October, 2018 has notified the environmental flows for river Ganga that has to be maintained at various locations on the river. T applies  to  the  Upper  Ganga  River  Basin  starting  from  originating  glaciers  and  through confluences of its head tributaries finally meeting at Devprayag up to Haridwar and the main stem of river Ganga  up  to  Unnao  district  of  Uttar  Pradesh.  Monitoring  of  e - flows  is  being  carried  by  CWC  since January, 2019.

While water quality in some rivers has improved, Central Pollution Control Board (C identified 351 polluted stret ches in the year 2018 based upon the water quality criteria of Bioc Oxygen Demand (BOD), a key indicator of pollution.

Cleaning  and  rejuvenation  of  rivers  is  a  continuous  process  and  Central  Gover supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in addressing the challenges of river through programmes like Namami Gange and National River Conservation Pl n (NRCP).NRCP has so far  covered  polluted  stretches  of  34  rivers  in  77  towns  spread  over  16  States  in  the  c sanctioned cost of Rs. 5965.90 crore & sewage treatment capacity of 2522.03 million litres has been created.  Under Namami Gange programme, a total of 333 projects has been sanctioned at of Rs.29,571 crore so far, of which 140 projects have been completed and made operational. projects, 154 projects are in the sewerage sectors for creation of new sewa ge treatment capacity of 3785 mld, rehabilitation of 1081 mld treatment capacity and sewerage network of 5066 kms.  Detai -wise and year - wise funds released to the State Governments/Union Territories during the last and current year u nder NRCP (excluding river Ganga and its tributaries) and Namami Gange program is given in Annexure .

In addition, sewerage infrastructure is also being created under programs like Atal Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Mission of Ministry of Housing Urban Affairs.

Steps taken by the Government to stop discharge of effluents into rivers inter alia, incl notification of specific discharge standards, revision of the criteria for categorization of industrie issuing directions to all State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committe adopt  the  same,  issuance  of  consent  to  establish/  consent  to  operate  by  the  SPCBs/  PC inspections of Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) by CPCB for compliance verification, in Online  Continuous  Effluent  Monitoring  System  (OCEMS)  for  assessment  of  effluent  quali compliance status.  In addition, the industries are encourag ed to reduce their wastewater generation b technological  advancement,  reuse/  recycle  of  wastewater  and  maintain  Zero  Liquid  Dischar where ever possible.

Further, CPCB, SPCBs and PCCs monitor industries with respect to effluent discharge s s and take action for non - compliance under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

Hon'ble  NGT  has  passed  orders  in  OA  No.673/2018  and  directed  all  the  concerned  State Governments andUT Administrations to prepare Action Plans and ensure execution of approved Plans within a stipulated time period for bringing all the polluted river stretches identifi fit at least for bathing purposes. All the concerned 28 States an 3 UTs are implementing the approved Action Plans for rejuvenation of the identified polluted river stretches in their respectiv Hon'ble NGT has also issued directions, amongst others, for ensuring the maintenance of the water quality and e - flows in the rivers vide orders/ judgments in OA No 200 of 2014.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 49 be answered on04.02. 2021 regarding Water Level in Rivers

Details  of  State - wise  and  year -wise  funds  released  to  the  State  Governments/Union  Territori during last three years and current year under NRCP (excluding river Ganga and its tributaries)

(Rs. in Crore)

| Sl. No.   | State         | River                     | 2017- 18   | 2018- 19   | 2019- 20   | 2020- 21 (till 2021)   |
|-----------|---------------|---------------------------|------------|------------|------------|------------------------|
| 1.        | Gujarat       | Sabarmati, Mindola & Tapi | 62.00      | 63.00      | 96.89      | 27.26                  |
| 2.        | Jammu Kashmir | Devika & Tawi             | -          | 30.00      | -          | 20.00                  |
| 3.        | Maharashtra   | Mula Mutha                | 31.75      | -          | -          | -                      |
| 4.        | Punjab        | Ghaggar, Beas & Satluj    | 50.00      | -          | -          | -                      |
| 5.        | Manipur       | Nambul                    | --         | 3.00       | 15.00      | 20.00                  |
| 6.        | Sikkim        | Rani Chu                  | 18.01      | 42.00      | 10.00      | 20.00                  |
| 7.        | Nagaland      | Diphu & Dhansiri          | 5.00       | 5.00       | 10.00      | 5.13                   |
| 8.        | Odisha        | Coastal Area (Puri)       | 1.99       | -          | -          | -                      |
| Total     | Total         |                           | 168.75     | 143.00     | 131.89     | 92.39                  |

|        |               | (Rs. In         | (Rs. In   | (Rs. In   | (Rs. In                |
|--------|---------------|-----------------|-----------|-----------|------------------------|
| S. No. | States        | Amount 2017- 18 | 2018- 19  | 2019- 20  | 2020- 2021 (till 2020) |
| 01     | Uttarakhand   | 183.61          | 308.09    | 110.28    | 55.09                  |
| 02     | Uttar Pradesh | 473.34          | 619.17    | 706.85    | 99.43                  |
| 03     | Bihar         | 356.27          | 654.51    | 1163.10   | 114.84                 |
| 04     | Jharkhand     | 7.57            | 67.87     | 28.22     | 12.80                  |
| 05     | West Bengal   | 244.01          | 222.80    | 69.45     | 16.25                  |
| 06     | Haryana       | 6.88            | 0.00      | 0.00      | 0.00                   |
| 07     | Delhi         | 81.57           | 310.69    | 214.47    | 60.00                  |
| Total  | Total         | 1353.25         | 2183.13   | 2292.37   | 358.41                 |

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