Lok Sabha Question No. 2931 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-05
Subject: Contamination of Ground Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI,

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.

## 2931 ANSWERED ON 05.08 .2021

## CONTAMINATION OF GRO UND WATER

## 2931. SHRIMATI HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware that arsenic and heavy metals are found in ground water country;

(b) the number of habitations receiving contaminated water in India,

(c) whether the Go vernment is aware of the presence of uranium, arsenic, lead and heavy metal ground water of Punjab, particularly in Malwa belt; and

(d) the steps taken by the Government to reduce contamination of water across the country pa Punjab?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES

## ( SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL )

(a) Yes sir. Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) generates ground water quality data of the co a regional scale as part of its ground water quality monitoring program and various scie These  studies  indicate  the  occurrence  of  contaminants  i ncluding  Arsenic  and  heavy  Metals  beyond permissible limits (as per BIS) for human consumption in isolated pockets in various States /

(b) As per information received from Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DoDW&S) an reported by States / UTs (as on 23.07.2021), 47873 rural habitations have been reported to hav issues in drinking water sources. State -wise details in this regard are given at Annexure - I .

(c) As per the data available with CGWB, in the State of Punjab, Arsenic co ncentration in ground water beyond the permissible limit has been reported from 10 districts, Lead from 6 districts, Ca districts, Chromium from 10 districts, Uranium from 16 districts. In Malwa belt, Arsenic con ground water beyon d the permissible limit has been reported from 3 districts viz. Mansa, Fa Sangrur,  Lead  from  3  districts  viz  Bathinda,  Ferozepur  and  Muktsar,  Cadmium  from  4  dist Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Patiala and Sangrur, Chromium from 3 districts v iz Bathinda, Mansa, and Sangrur districts, Uranium from 9 districts viz Bathinda, Moga, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib Ludhiana, Muktsar, Patiala and Sangrur.

(d)Water  being  a  State  subject,  initiatives  on  water  management, including  addressing  its  quality  i primarily States' responsibility; however, various steps have been taken by the Central Government for facilitating ground water quality improvement/ remediation of contamination in the drinking country.

Central  Pollution  Control Board (CPCB) in association with State Pollution Boards/Pollution  Control  Committees  (SPCBs/PCCs)  is  implementing  the  provisions  of  The (Prevention  &  Control)  Act,  1974  &  The  Environment  (Protection)  Act,  1986  to  preve nt  and  control pollution in water.

Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) in 2019, a time bound campaign mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including ground water conditi water stressed blocksof 256 districts in India including Punjab. In this regard, teams of office Central Government along -with technical officers from Ministry of Jal Shakti were deputed to vi stressed  districts  and  to  work  in  close  collaboration  with  district level  officials  to  undertake  suitab interventions. In addition 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan - Catch the Rain' campaign has been launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 22 March 2021. The improved groundwater recharge due to constru artificial recha rge structures and increased water harvesting is likely to significantly contr reducing the contaminants level in the aquifer waters.

Government of India in partnership with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission ( August, 2019 to provide potable tap water supply of prescribed quality to every rural house country including Punjab by 2024. Under JJM, while planning water supply schemes to provide supply  to  house - holds,  priority  is  given  to  quality - affected  hab itations.  While  allocating  the  funds States/ UTs in a particular financial year, 10% weightage is given to the population residin affected by chemical contaminants including Arsenic and Fluoride, as on 31st March of the Financi al Year.

Since, planning, implementation and commissioning of piped water supply schemes base safe water source may take time, purely as an interim measure, States/ UTs have been advis community  water  purification  plants  (CWPPs)  in  suc h  habitations,  to  provide  potable  water  to  ev household  at  the  rate  of  8 -10  litre  per  capita  per  day  (lpcd)  to  meet  their  drinking  and requirements. \

Department  of  Drinking  Water  &  Sanitation  had  launched  a  National  Water  Quality -Mission  ( NWQSM)  on  22 nd March,  2017  as  a  part  of  National  Rural  Drinking  Water  Program (NRDWP), which has now been subsumed under Jal Jeevan Mission, to provide safe drinking wa 27,544 Arsenic/ Fluoride affected rural habitations in the country including Pu njab.

Under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched 25th June, 2015 in selected 500 cities of the country including Punjab with focus on develop infrastructure in various sectors includi ng water supply. States/UTs have the option to take projec special water supply arrangements for difficult areas, hill and coastal cities, including t quality problems.

Under the National Aquifer Mapping Programme (NAQUIM) of CGWB, special attention is being given to the aspect of ground water quality including contamination by toxic substa Arsenic in ground water.

CGWB has constructed several exploratory and observation wells in the Country tapp Arsenic safe deeper aquifer zones delineated through exploration aided detailed aquifer ma National Aquifer Mapping programme. Successful wells have been handed over to the State Governments for their purposeful utilization. Further, CGWB is providing technical assistance to the St the cement sealing technology for tapping contamination free aquifers in Gangetic flood plain

This Ministry h as issued guidelines for control and regulation of groundwater extract pan-India  applicability  notified  on  24  September  2020. The  guidelines  include  suitable  provisions measures to be adopted to ensure groundwater free from pollution.

Some ofthe initiatives of Government of Punjab are given at Annexure II.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of Unstarred Question No. 2931 to be answered i Sabha on 05.08.2021 regarding 'Contamination of Groundwater'.

## State - wise details of habitations reported to have quality - issues in drinking water sources (as on 23.07.2021)

| S.    | State/ UT         | Number of quality affected habitations   | Number of quality affected habitations   | Number of quality affected habitations   | Number of quality affected habitations   | Number of quality affected habitations   | Number of quality affected habitations   | Number of quality affected habitations   | Number of quality affected habitations   | Number of quality affected habitations   |
|-------|-------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| No.   | State/ UT         | Fluoride                                 | Arsenic                                  | Iron                                     |                                          | SalinityNitrate                          | Heavy Metal                              | Total                                    | Covered with CW PP*                      | Remaining                                |
| 1.    | Andhra Pradesh    | 86                                       | -                                        | -                                        | 13                                       | 1                                        | -                                        | 100                                      | 87                                       | 13                                       |
| 2.    | Arunachal Pradesh | -                                        | -                                        | 229                                      | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 229                                      | -                                        | 229                                      |
| 3.    | Assam             | 12                                       | 1,194                                    | 19,745                                   | -                                        | -                                        | 5                                        | 20,956                                   | 1,220                                    | 19,736                                   |
| 4.    | Bihar             | 23                                       | 24                                       | 3,919                                    | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 3,966                                    | 2                                        | 3,964                                    |
| 5.    | Chhattisgarh      | 150                                      | -                                        | 52                                       | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 202                                      | -                                        | 202                                      |
| 6.    | Haryana           | 1                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 1                                        | -                                        | 1                                        |
| 7.    | Jammu & Kashmir   | 2                                        | -                                        | 2                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 4                                        | -                                        | 4                                        |
| 8.    | Jharkhand         | 48                                       | 1                                        | 199                                      | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 248                                      | 48                                       | 200                                      |
| 9.    | Kerala            | 5                                        | -                                        | 65                                       | 20                                       | 8                                        | -                                        | 98                                       | -                                        | 98                                       |
| 10.   | Madhya Pradesh    | 177                                      | -                                        | 29                                       | 10                                       | 6                                        | -                                        | 222                                      | 3                                        | 219                                      |
| 11.   | Maharashtra       | 22                                       | -                                        | 10                                       | 13                                       | 53                                       | -                                        | 98                                       | -                                        | 98                                       |
| 12.   | Odisha            | 69                                       | -                                        | 3,338                                    | 33                                       | 25                                       | -                                        | 3,465                                    | 1                                        | 3,464                                    |
| 13.   | Puducherry        | -                                        | -                                        | 7                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 7                                        | -                                        | 7                                        |
| 14.   | Punjab            | 210                                      | 605                                      | 34                                       | -                                        | 59                                       | 224                                      | 1,132                                    | 107                                      | 1,025                                    |
| 15.   | Rajasthan         | 1,358                                    | -                                        | 5                                        | 10,106                                   | 691                                      | -                                        | 12,160                                   | 1,220                                    | 10,940                                   |
| 16.   | Tripura           | -                                        | -                                        | 1,335                                    | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 1,335                                    | -                                        | 1,335                                    |
| 17.   | Uttar Pradesh     | 53                                       | 124                                      | 283                                      | 79                                       | 10                                       | -                                        | 549                                      | 174                                      | 375                                      |
| 18.   | Uttarakhand       | -                                        | -                                        | 7                                        | -                                        | 2                                        | -                                        | 9                                        | -                                        | 9                                        |
| 19.   | West Bengal       | 149                                      | 1,083                                    | 1,718                                    | 73                                       | -                                        | 69                                       | 3,092                                    | 214                                      | 2,878                                    |
| Total | Total             | 2,365                                    | 3,031                                    | 30,977                                   | 10,347                                   | 855                                      | 298                                      | 47,873                                   | 3,076                                    | 44,797                                   |

Source: JJM

-IMIS

* CWPP installed for providing safe drinking water at the rate of 8 - 10 lpcd for drinking a nd cookingpurpose

Annexure referred to in reply to part (d) of Unstarred Question No. 2931 to be answered Lok Sabha on 05.08.2021 regarding 'Contamination of Groundwater'.

Government of Punjab has prepared a long term and short term mitigation strategy to ta water quality problems in the State. Details in this regard is given below.

## Long Term Measures

- Surface Water projects: First preference is given to Surface water projects, wherever it is techno - economically  feasible.  Accordingly,  Punjab  is  covering  642  Quality  affe habitations as per feasibility for which work is under progress.
- In- line Arsenic cum Iron removal plants (AIRPs): Where provision of Surface Water is not feasible, Punjab is retrofitting inline AIRPs in Arsenic affected habitations water @ 70 litre per capita per day.

## Short Term Measures

- Community Water Purification Plants: CWPPs are being installed as mentioned in para (d) above.
- Decentralized household purifiers: Installing CWPPs in very small habitations is generall not  economical  and  sustainable.  Therefore,  after  successful  demonstration  of Household Purifiers in  one  village,  concept  is  being  replicated  in Arsenicaffected  habitations  for providing household purifiers.

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