Lok Sabha Question No. 1914 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-28
Subject: Rain Water Harvesting Structure
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Pradeep Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI,

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1914

ANSWERED ON 28.07.2022

## RAIN WATER HARVESTING STRUCTURE

## 1914 SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Ministry  provides  any  financial  assistance  for  construction  of  individual  Rain  Water Harvesting Structure (RWHS) in Bihar;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to boost construction of RWHS at large scale across the country?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI ( SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU )

- (a) & (b):  Central Government provides technical and financial assistance for construction of rain water harvesting structures under various schemes/ programmes of the Government of India across the country including Bihar like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), 15 th Finance Commission grants, Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana etc.
- (c)     In  order  to  boost  construction  of  water  conservation  and  rainwater  harvesting  structures  at  large scale in the country, Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken up nationwide campaign  'Jal Shakti Abhiyan' since 2019.    Under  JSA-I  implemented  in  2019  around  2.73  lakh  Water  Conservation  &  Rain  Water Harvesting  structures  were  completed/ongoing.  Jal  Shakti  Abhiyan:  Catch  the  Rain'  (JSA:CTR) was taken up in 2021  during 22.3.2021 to  30.11.2021  and  JSA:CTR-2022  has  been  taken  up  for implementation during 29.3.2022 to 30.11.2022  with the theme ' Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls ' for creating appropriate rainwater harvesting structures  in urban and rural areas of all the districts in  the  country, with  people's  active  participation,  during  the  pre-monsoon  and  monsoon  periods.   The campaign primarily  focused  on  water  conservation  and   rainwater  harvesting.    The  interventions  of JSA:CTR  and  JSA:CTR-2022  include  creation  of   new  and  maintenance  of  old  rainwater  harvesting structures and revival of traditional rainwater harvesting structures.  During the period of implementation of JSA:CTR - 2021, more than 16 lakh water conservation and rain water harvesting structures have been created/ongoing  as  on  28.3.2022  and  during  the  implementation  of  JSA:CTR-2022  around  4.00  lakh water conservation and rain water harvesting structures have been created/ongoing as on 25.7.2022 as per information available on JSA:CTR portal (jsactr.mowr.gov.in). Stakeholder Ministries/ Departments  and States/UT are also incurring funds from their own resources and locally mobilized funds.

Department of Rural Development implements MGNREGS,  a  demand driven wage employment  programme  in  rural  areas.  Financial  assistance  is  extended  under  MGNREGS  for  works relating to Natural Resource Management (NRM) which include rain water harvesting structures.

Continuing  the  work  under  Atal  Mission  for  Rejuvenation  and  Urban  Transformation (AMRUT), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched a new Mission - AMRUT 2.0.  AMRUT 2.0 envisages to make the cities 'water secure' through circular economy of water. It helps cities to identify scope for  projects  focusing  on  universal  coverage  of  functional  water  tap  connections,  water  source  conservation, rejuvenation of water bodies & wells, recycle/ reuse of treated waste water and rain water harvesting.  Based on the assessment through City Water Balance Plan (CWBP), Cities/ States decide to take up RWHS projects for well rejuvenation or for water supply source augmentation.

States/  UTs  have  been  advised  to  enable  (Rural  Local  Bodies  (RLBs)/Panchayats  to  utilise  15 th Finance Commissions grants to take up rain water harvesting in Government buildings like panchayat, bhawans, anganwadis, Primary Health Centres etc.

Government of India encourages rain water harvesting through its various guidelines. Adequate focus has been given on requirement of rain water harvesting and water conservation measures on Unified Building Bye Laws (UBBL) of Delhi 2016, Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016 and Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014.

Master  Plan  for  Artificial  Recharge  to  Groundwater-  2020  has  been  prepared  by  Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) which envisages construction of about 1.42 crore Rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the country to harness 185 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) of monsoon rainfall.

The  other  important  steps  taken  by  the  Central  Government  for  sustainable  ground  water management including promotion of rain water harvesting, artificial recharge to ground water, etc. are available at http://jalshaktidowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps%20taken%20by%20the%20Central%20Govt%20for%20water\_depl etion\_july2022.pdf

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