Lok Sabha Question No. 407 (STARRED), answered on 2022-03-31
Subject: Toxic Substances in Ground Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Girish Chandra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *407

ANSWERED ON 31.03.2022

## TOXIC SUBSTANCES IN GROUND WATER

- *407.  SHRI GIRISH CHANDRA

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has conducted any study particularly in Uttar Pradesh regarding presence of toxic substances like arsenic and fluoride in ground water and their adverse effects on human health;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken by the Government for maintaining clean ground water, State-wise; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for exploration of clean and safe ground water resources thereby tackling problems of prolonged use of arsenic contaminated water which leads to diseases  like  dermatosis,  keratosis,  conjunctivitis,  bronchitis,  gastro-enteritis  in  initial  stage  and  then peripheral neuropathies, hepatopathy, melanosis, depigmentation etc.?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

(SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)

- (a) to (c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *407 TO BE ANSWERED  ON  THURSDAY,  31.03.2022 ON 'TOXIC SUBSTANCES IN GROUND WATER'.

(a) & (b) Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) generates ground water quality data annually on a regional scale  through ground  water  quality  monitoring  throughout  the  country.  This  monitoring  indicates  the occurrence of fluoride, arsenic, nitrate, iron and heavy metals beyond the BIS (Bureau  of Indian Standards) permissible limits for human consumption in isolated pockets in certain parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh. Details in this regard are given at Annexure I .

Consumption of arsenic  beyond  permissible  limits  may  lead  to  arsenicosis,  development  of  black-brown skin pigmentation (melanosis), hardening of palm and soles (keratosis), skin cancer etc. In addition,consumption of fluoride beyond permissible limits may lead to dental fluorisis, skeletal fluorisis and non-skeletal fluorisis including anemia etc.

Water  being  State  subject,  initiatives  on  water  management  including  taking  corrective  action  related  to ground water quality in the country is primarily States' responsibility. However, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)  in association with State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees (SPCBs/PCCs)  is  implementing  provisions  of  the  Water  (Prevention  &  Control)  Act,  1974  &  the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to prevent and control pollution.

Adverse effects of the groundwater contamination can be addressed to a large extent if safe water is made available to public. The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DoDW&S) had launched a National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) on 22 nd March, 2017 as a part of National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), which has now been subsumed under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), to provide safe drinking water to 27,544 arsenic/fluoride affected rural habitations in the country. JJM, being implemented in partnership with States since August, 2019, aims to provide potable tap water supply of prescribed quality to every rural household in the country by 2024. Under JJM, while allocating the funds to States/ UTs in a particular  financial  year,  10%  weightage  is  given  to  the  population  residing  in  habitations  affected  by chemical  contaminants  including  arsenic  and  fluoride,  as  on  31st  March  of  the  preceding  financial  year. Since, planning, implementation and commissioning of piped water supply schemes based on a safe water source likely to take time, purely as an interim measure, States/ UTs have been advised to install community water purification plants (CWPPs) in such habitations, to provide potable water to every household at the rate of 8-10 litre per capita per day (lpcd) to meet their drinking and cooking requirements.

(c) CGWB has constructed several exploratory and observation wells in the country tapping the arsenic safe deeper aquifer zones delineated through exploration aided detailed aquifer mapping under National Aquifer Mapping programme.  Successful  wells have been handed over to the State Governments for utilization. Further, the groundwater quality information generated by the CGWB on yearly basis is also shared with States/UTs for their corrective action while making available drinking water to the public.

In addition, CGWB is providing technical assistance to the States by sharing the cement sealing technology for tapping contamination free aquifers in Gangetic flood plains including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

## ANNEXURE I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A)& (B) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.*407 TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  31.03.2022  REGARDING  'TOXIC  SUBSTANCES  IN GROUND WATER'.

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

| S. No.   | State/ UT         | Salinity (EC above 3000 micro mhos/ cm) (EC : Electrical Conductivity)   | Fluoride (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)                 | Cadmium (above 0.003 mg/l)              | Chromium (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                                        |                                          |                                         |                                         |
| 21       | Odisha            | 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        | 27                                                                       | 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 248 districts in 18 states &UTs                                 | Parts of 370 districts in 23 states &UTs | Parts of 423 districts in 23 states& UTs | Parts of 152 districts in 21 states& UTs | Parts of 341 districts in 27 states& UTs | Pb in parts of 92 districts in 14 states | Cd in parts of 24 districts in 9 states | Cr in parts of 29districts in 10 states |

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