Lok Sabha Question No. 3161 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-16
Subject: Rejuvenation of Water Streams
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Suresh Kumar Kashyap

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3161 ANSWERED ON 16.12.2021

## REJUVENATION OF WATER STREAMS

## 3161.         SHRI SURESH KUMAR KASHYAP

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  rejuvenation  of  the  dead  streams  in  drought  prone  areas  of Himachal Pradesh specifically in Shimla district;

(b) whether the Government has taken any steps for conservation of rain water at village and town levels and if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the details of the funds spent by the Government during the last three years for rain water harvesting?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## (SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)

(a) to (c)  It is the responsibility of the States/Union Territories (UTs), local bodies and industrial units to ensure required treatment of sewage and industrial effluents to the prescribed norms before discharging into river  and  other  water  bodies,  coastal  waters  or  land  to  prevent  and  control  of  pollution  therein.  For conservation of rivers, this Ministry has been supplementing efforts of the States/UTs by providing financial and technical assistance for abatement of pollution in identified stretches of rivers in the country through the Central Sector Scheme of Namami Gange for rivers in Ganga basin and Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National  River  Conservation  Plan  (NRCP)  for  other  rivers.  Further,  priority  for  effective  rejuvenation  of small rivers has been accorded under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).  No  such  proposal  for  conservation  of  river  has  been  received  from  the  Government  of Himachal Pradesh under NRCP.

Himachal Pradesh has enacted the Groundwater Act in 2005 to regulate extraction of groundwater in the vulnerable areas of the State, which has now been extended all over the State. Further, Hydro-Electric Projects (HEPs) located on the catchment of rivers are mandated to ensure minimum 15% discharge of lean season  flow  on  the  downstream  of  the  HEP  into  river  body.  Also,  Real  Time  Water  Quality  Monitoring Stations  (RTWQMS)  with  radar  system  for  water  quality  and  flow  measurement  have  been  set  up  to maintain  environmental  flow  in  the  rivers/nallahs,  including  river  Kaushalya  near  village  Kamli,  river Markanda in Ogli and Kala Amb town in Himachal Pradesh.

This Ministry launched the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PMKSY) in 2015-16 with an aim  to  enhance  physical  access  of  water  on  farm  and  expand  cultivable  area  under  assured  irrigation, improve on farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc. The Central Assistance  under  the  schemes  of  Surface  Minor  Irrigation  (SMI)  as  well  as  RRR  (Repair,  renovation  & restoration) of Water Bodies, which are components under PMKSY, is provided in the form of grant, which is  90%  of  the  project  cost  in  the  7  North  Eastern  States  and  hilly  States/UTs  (Himachal  Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K, including Ladhak). Further, Central Assistance under both the schemes is 60% of project cost for projects in special areas that includes Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) areas.

6 clusters of 154 SMI schemes are ongoing in several districts of Himachal Pradesh, including Shimla, under PMKSY (Har Khet Ko Pani) with an estimated cost of Rs.499.26 crore and targeted irrigation potential of 0.25525 lakh-hectare. Central Assistance amounting to Rs.356.70 crore has been released for these  schemes  and  97  schemes  have  been  reported  to  be  completed  with  achievement  of  0.18434  lakhhectare irrigation potential up to March, 2021.

This  Ministry  has  also  launched  a  campaign  'Catch  the  Rain'.  Activities  under  this  campaign include  drives  to  make  Rain  Water  Harvesting  Structures  (RWHS)  like  Rooftop  RWHS,  ponds,  water harvesting pits, check dams, etc; enumeration and geo-tagging of all water bodies in the districts; removal of encroachments  and  de-silting  of  tanks  to  increase  their  storage  capacity;  removal  of  obstructions  in  the channels which bring water to them; repairs to step-wells and using defunct bore-wells to put the water back to  aquifers;  rejuvenation  of  rivulets   and  rivers;  conservation  and  restoration  of  wetlands,  etc.  A  massive awareness generation campaign with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan (NYKS) has also been launched on 21 st December, 2020 to cover all districts in the country.

In  addition,  the  'Jal  Shakti  Abhiyan:  Catch  The  Rain'  (JSA:CTR)  campaign  was  launched  by Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  on  22  March  2021,  the  World  Water  Day,  with  the  theme  -  'Catch  The  Rain, Where it falls, When it falls'. JSA:CTR has been taken up in all districts (rural as well as urban areas) of the country during the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country i.e. from March, 2021 to 30 th November, 2021. No separate funds were allocated for JSA:CTR. However, under the above mentioned interventions, funds were utilized by convergence of different Central and State Government Schemes to achieve the goal of  the  campaign.  As  per  available  data  as  on  14 th December 2021, Rs.22,352 crore has been spent from MGNREGA funds on works relating to water conservation and Rainwater Harvesting structures.

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