Lok Sabha Question No. 4816 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-31
Subject: Water Conservation in Maharashtra
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Navneet Ravi Rana

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4816 ANSWERED ON 31.03.2022

## WATER CONSERVATION IN MAHARASHTRA

## †4816.  SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) the number of the reservoirs in the country particularly those located in Maharashtra for which data has been compiled;

(b) the details of the areas facing the problem of water scarcity in the country;

(c) whether the people are motivated for water conservation through the Jal Mitras;

(d) if so, the details thereof including the number of the Jal Mitra involved in the water conservation campaign, State-wise; and

(e) whether the Government proposes to formulate any national policy to save the natural and artificial stepwells, tanks, ponds, johad and lakes and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## (SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)

(a) Central  Water  Commission  is  monitoring  live  storage  status  of  140  reservoirs  of  the  country, including those pertaining to 29 dams of Maharashtra, on weekly basis. The total live storage capacity of these 140 reservoirs is 175.957 BCM, which is about 68.25% of the live storage capacity of 257.812 BCM  which  is  estimated  to  have  been  created  in  the  country.  The  live  storage  capacity  of  the  29 monitored reservoirs in Maharashtra is 18.445 BCM.

(b) The  average  annual  water  availability  of  any  region  or  country  is  largely  dependent  upon  hydrometeorological  and  geological  factors.  However,  water  availability  per  person  is  dependent  on population of the country and for India, per capita water availability in the country is reducing due to increase  in  population.  Also  due  to  high  temporal  and  spatial  variation  of  precipitation,  the  water availability in many regions of the country is much below the national average and this may result in water  stress/scarce  conditions.  Further,  the  dynamic  ground  water  resources  of  the  country  are  being periodically assessed jointly by Central Ground Water Board and State Governments. As per the 2020 assessment, out of the total 6965 assessment units (Block/ Taluks/ Mandals/ watersheds/ Firkas) in the country,  1114  units  in  15  States/UTs  have  been  categorized  as  'Over-exploited'  where  the  annual ground  water  extraction  is  more  than  annual  extractable  ground  water  resource.  270  units  have  been categorized as 'Critical', 1057 units as 'Semi- critical', 4427 units as 'Safe' and 97 units as 'Saline'. The details are given in Annexure.

(c) & (d) Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) and Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA:CTR) were steps of the Government  with  involvement  of  officers  and  experts  from  stakeholder  Ministries/  Departments  for water  conservation  and  rain  water  harvesting  with  people's  participation.  There  is  no  information  on involvement of Jal Mitra in JSA/ JSA:CTR, however, some of the States may have involved volunteers at their level in water conservation awareness campaigns.

(e) Works related to conservation of natural and man-made water bodies like stepwells, tanks, ponds, johads  and  lakes  etc.,  as  well  as  formulation  of  policy  for  the  same,  lies  in  the  domain  of  the  State Government  concerned.  However,  some  of  the  policies  framed  by  Government  of  India  in  order  to supplement the efforts of the State Governments in this regard, are as under:

1. National Water Policy 2012 formulated by this Ministry, inter-alia, provides that encroachments and diversion of water bodies (like rivers, lakes, tanks, ponds, etc.) and drainage channels (irrigated area as well as urban area drainage) must not be allowed, and wherever it has taken place, it should be restored to the extent feasible.

2.  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate  Change  has  notified  Wetlands  (Conservation  and Management) Rules, 2017 for protection, conservation and management of wetlands.

3. The provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 are being implemented by  the  State  Pollution  Control  Boards  (SPCBs)  /Pollution  Control  Committees  (PCCs)  to  regulate discharge of effluents and enforcement of standards in respect of polluting sources.

4.  Government  of  India  has  stipulated  general  discharge  standards  and  industry  specific  effluent discharge standards under Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, with an aim to prevent pollution in the water bodies.

5. 'Indicative Guidelines for restoration of water bodies' have been issued by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as a guidance to the stakeholders for ensuring restoration/ rejuvenation of water bodies.

6. Guidelines for immersion of idols in water bodies formulated during 2010 has been revised and the 'Revised Guidelines on Idol Immersion in Water Bodies 'are being implemented in the country with effect from 1st January, 2021.

**********

## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4816 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 31.03.2022 REGARDING 'WATER CONSERVATION IN MAHARASHTRA'.

## CATEGORIZATION OF BLOCKS/ MANDALS/ TALUKAS IN INDIA (2020)

| S.No.   | State/Union Territories   | Total No. of Assessed Units   | Safe   | Safe   | Semi-Critical   | Semi-Critical   | Critical   | Critical   | Over- Exploited   | Over- Exploited   | Saline   | Saline   |
|---------|---------------------------|-------------------------------|--------|--------|-----------------|-----------------|------------|------------|-------------------|-------------------|----------|----------|
|         | States                    |                               | Nos.   | %      | Nos.            | %               | Nos.       | %          | Nos.              | %                 | Nos.     | %        |
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh            | 667                           | 551    | 83     | 40              | 6               | 15         | 2          | 23                | 3                 | 38       | 6        |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh         | 11                            | 11     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 3       | Assam                     | 28                            | 28     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 4       | Bihar                     | 534                           | 471    | 88     | 51              | 10              | 5          | 1          | 7                 | 1                 |          |          |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh              | 146                           | 110    | 75     | 27              | 18              | 9          | 6          |                   |                   |          |          |
| 6       | Delhi                     | 34                            | 3      | 9      | 7               | 21              | 7          | 21         | 17                | 50                |          |          |
| 7       | Goa                       | 12                            | 12     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 8       | Gujarat                   | 248                           | 182    | 73     | 24              | 10              | 4          | 2          | 25                | 10                | 13       | 5        |
| 9       | Haryana                   | 141                           | 30     | 21     | 14              | 10              | 12         | 9          | 85                | 60                |          |          |
| 10      | Himachal Pradesh          | 10                            | 10     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 11      | Jharkhand                 | 259                           | 244    | 94     | 10              | 4               | 2          | 1          | 3                 | 1                 |          |          |
| 12      | Karnataka                 | 227                           | 130    | 57     | 35              | 15              | 10         | 4          | 52                | 23                |          |          |
| 13      | Kerala                    | 152                           | 120    | 79     | 29              | 19              | 3          | 2          |                   |                   |          |          |
| 14      | Madhya Pradesh            | 317                           | 233    | 74     | 50              | 16              | 8          | 3          | 26                | 8                 |          |          |
| 15      | Maharashtra               | 353                           | 271    | 77     | 63              | 18              | 8          | 2          | 10                | 3                 | 1        | 0        |
| 16      | Manipur                   | 9                             | 9      | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 17      | Meghalaya                 | 12                            | 12     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 18      | Mizoram                   | 26                            | 26     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 19      | Nagaland                  | 11                            | 11     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 20      | Odisha                    | 314                           | 302    | 96     | 6               | 2               |            |            |                   |                   | 6        | 2        |
| 21      | Punjab                    | 150                           | 17     | 11     | 10              | 7               | 6          | 4          | 117               | 78                |          |          |
| 22      | Rajasthan                 | 295                           | 37     | 13     | 29              | 10              | 23         | 8          | 203               | 69                | 3        | 1        |
| 23      | Sikkim                    | 4                             | 4      | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 24      | Tamil Nadu                | 1166                          | 409    | 35     | 225             | 19              | 63         | 5          | 435               | 37                | 34       | 3        |
| 25      | Telangana                 | 589                           | 321    | 55     | 180             | 31              | 44         | 7          | 44                | 7                 |          |          |
| 26      | Tripura                   | 59                            | 59     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 27      | Uttar Pradesh             | 830                           | 541    | 65     | 174             | 21              | 49         | 6          | 66                | 8                 |          |          |
| 28      | Uttarakhand               | 18                            | 14     | 78     | 4               | 22              |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 29      | West Bengal*              | 268                           | 191    | 71     | 76              | 28              | 1          | 0          |                   |                   |          |          |
| 30      | Andaman and Nicobar       | 36                            | 35     | 97     |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   | 1        | 3        |
| 31      | Chandigarh                | 1                             |        |        | 1               | 100             |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 32      | Dadra &Nagar Haveli       | 1                             | 1      | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
|         | Daman &Diu                | 2                             | 1      | 50     |                 |                 |            |            | 1                 | 50                |          |          |
| 33      | Jammu and Kashmir         | 20                            | 20     | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 34      | Ladakh                    | 2                             | 2      | 100    |                 |                 |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 35      | Lakshadweep               | 9                             | 7      | 78     | 2               | 22              |            |            |                   |                   |          |          |
| 36      | Puducherry                | 4                             | 2      | 50     |                 |                 | 1          | 25         |                   |                   | 1        | 25       |
|         | Grand Total               | 6965                          | 4427   | 64     | 1057            | 15              | 270        | 4          | 1114              | 16                | 97       | 1        |

## Note

Blocks- Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan,

Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal

Taluks- Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra

Mandals- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

District- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh

Valley- Himachal Pradesh,

Islands- Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep

Firka- Tamil Nadu

Region- Puducherry

UT- Chandigarh

Tehsil- Delhi

*West Bengal- The Ground Water Resource Assessment as on 2013 has been considered for state of West Bengal.