Lok Sabha Question No. 4700 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-31
Subject: Water Crisis
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: K. Subbarayan

## 4700.  SHRI SUBBARAYAN K.

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware that the water crisis in the country is truly unprecedented and there is a need to rapidly move towards a new paradigm of water management and governance that reflects both the emerging realities on the ground and also the growing understanding of water in the 21st century;

(b) if so, the initiatives taken/being taken by the Government in this regard;

- (c) if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d)  the  efforts  made/to  be  made  by  the  Government  to  create  awareness  among  people  and  encourage people's participation in management of water?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## (SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)

(a)  to  (c) As  per  the  National  Commission on  Integrated  Water  Resources Development  (NCIWRD) Report1999, water requirement of the country for High Demand scenario for the year 2050 is 1180 BCM.

As per study titled 'Reassessment of Water Availability in India using Space Inputs, 2019' conducted by Central Water Commission in collaboration with NRSC, the average annual water resources availability in the country is assessed  as  1999.20  BCM.  It  is  estimated  that  owing  to  topographic,  hydrological  and  other  constraints,  the utilizable  water  is  1,126  BCM  which  comprises  690  BCM  of  surface  water  and  436  BCM  of  replenishable ground water.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been formed by the Government of India, integrating the erstwhile Ministry of Water  Resources  River  Development  and  Ganga  Rejuvenation  and  the  Ministry  of  Drinking  Water  and Sanitation, with an aim to integrate water resources management under one umbrella so that the issues relating to water are dealt with in a holistic manner. This also synergises demand side and supply side management.

(d) Water  being  a  State  subject,  steps  for  augmentation,  conservation  and  efficient  management  of  water resources are primarily undertaken by the respective State Governments. In order to supplement the efforts of the State  Governments,  Central  Government  provides  technical  and  financial  assistance  to  them  through  various schemes and programmes.

Government of India, in partnership with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to make provision of potable tap water supply to every rural household of the country at the service level of 55 litre per capita per day by 2024.

Government of India has launched AMRUT 2.0 on 1st October, 2021 for a period of 5 years (FY 2021- 22 to 2025-26), with the objective of providing universal coverage of water supply through functional household tap connections in all statutory towns in the country. One of the major objective of IEC under AMRUT 2.0 is to create awareness about practices for water conservation like rainwater harvesting, clean water bodies, ground water recharge and intensive plantation, etc.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4700

ANSWERED ON 31.03.2022

## WATER CRISIS

The  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  launched  the  'Jal  Shakti  Abhiyan:  Catch  the  Rain'  (JSA:CTR)  with  the  theme 'Catch the Rain - Where it Falls When it Falls' on 22 nd March 2021, the World Water Day, to cover all the blocks of all districts (rural as well as urban areas) across the country during 22 nd March, 2021 to 30 th November, 2021 - the pre-monsoon and monsoon period. JSA:CTR campaign had five focused interventions- (1) rainwater harvesting  &  water  conservation  (2)  enumerating,  geo-tagging  &  making  inventory  of  all  water  bodies; preparation  of  scientific  plans  for  water  conservation  (3)  setting  up  Jal  Shakti  Kendras  in  all  districts  (4) intensive afforestation and (5) awareness generation.

The  Command  Area  Development  &  Water  Management  (CADWM)  Programme  has  been  brought  under Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (PMKSY)  -  Har  Khet  Ko  Pani  from  2015-16  onwards.  The  main objective  of  taking  up  CAD  works  is  to  enhance  utilization  of  irrigation  potential  created,  and  improve agriculture  production  on  a  sustainable  basis  through  Participatory  Irrigation  Management  (PIM).  The  new guidelines  make  separate  financial  provisions  of  Rs  5,000  per  ha  for  PIM  under  non-structural  intervention covering cost of training, adaptive trials, etc. and direct financial assistance to WUAs in the form of functional grant and infrastructural grant.

Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing "Per Drop More Crop" component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) which is operational from 2015-16 in the India. The PMKSY- "Per Drop  More  Crop"  mainly  focuses  on  water  use  efficiency  at  farm  level  through  micro  irrigation  (drip  and sprinkler irrigation system).

'Sahi Fasal' campaign was launched by National Water Mission (NWM) on 14.11.2019 to nudge farmers in the water stressed areas to grow crops which use water very efficiently, are economically remunerative, are healthy and nutritious, suited to the agro-climatic-hydro characteristics of the area, and are environment friendly.

Government of India is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana, a central sector scheme, in 8,774 gram panchayats of 81 districts of seven States namely Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar  Pradesh.  The  focus  of  the  scheme  is  on  community  participation  and  demand  side  intervention  for sustainable ground water management in identified water stressed areas.

National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM) is being implemented by the Central Ground Water  Board  (CGWB)  as  part  of  Ground  Water  Management  and  Regulation  (GWM&R)  Scheme,  a  central sector scheme. Public Interaction Programs (PIP) are being organised at grass root level for disseminating the tenets of the Aquifer Management Plans as part of the National Aquifer Mapping and Management (NAQUIM) Programme for the benefit of the stakeholders.

A  monthly  'WATER  TALK'  lecture  series  is  an  important  activity  undertaken  by  NWM  with  the  aim  to stimulate  awareness,  (thinking),  build  capacities  of  stakeholders  and  encourage  people  to  become  active participants in sustaining life by saving water.

In order to assist public/policy makers/various government functionaries, the technique for effective rainwater harvesting, Manuals on rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge of ground water, and master plan on artificial recharge to ground water etc have been prepared by the CGWB, which can be seen in the CGWB web-site at URL: http://cgwb.gov.in.

Best practices of water conservation by various entities, including private persons, NGOs, PSUs etc, have been compiled and put on the web site of the Ministry for the benefit of general public.

Mass awareness programmes (Trainings, Seminars, Workshops, etc.) are conducted from time to time each year under the information, Education & Communication (IEC) Scheme of DoWR, RD & GR in various parts of the Country to promote rain water harvesting and artificial recharge of ground water.