Lok Sabha Question No. 23 (STARRED), answered on 2022-12-08
Subject: Diversion of Flood Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Malook Nagar, Vivek Narayan Shejwalkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI,

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

## LOK  SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *23

ANSWERED ON 08.12.2022

## DIVERSION OF FLOOD WATER

## *23 SHRI MALOOK NAGAR

## SHRI VIVEK NARAYAN SHEJWALKAR

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to divert the surplus water from flood prone areas to the drought hit areas in order to address the annual crisis of recurring floods and droughts in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) whether the Government has any proposal to provide relief from flood and ensure proper use of rain water and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF JAL SHAKTI

(SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

- (a) to (c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  STARRED QUESTION NO. 23 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 08.12.2022 REGARDING 'DIVERSION OF FLOOD WATER' ASKED BY SHRI MALOOK NAGAR AND SHRI VIVEK NARAYAN SHEJWALKAR:, HON'BLE M.Ps.

(a)  &  (b) The  large  temporal  and  spatial  variation  in  availability  of  water  in  country  leads  to recurrent floods in some parts, while some other parts experience drought. Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) programme has been envisaged to reduce regional imbalance in the availability of water. National  Perspective  Plan  (NPP)  for  Water  Resources  Development  was  formulated  by Government  of  India  in  1980  for  providing  storages  and  transfer  of  surplus  waters  to  water deficit regions so as to mitigate the effect of annually recurring floods and also to minimize the incidence of droughts.

The National Perspective Plan would give additional benefits of 25 million hectares of irrigation from surface waters, 10 million hectares by increased use of ground water, 34,000 MW of hydropower  generation  and  other  benefits  like  augmenting  domestic  &  industrial  water  supply, navigational  facilities,  employment  generation,  fisheries,  salinity  control,  pollution  abatement, etc.  National  Water  Development  Agency  (NWDA)  under  the  Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti  has identified  16  links  under  Peninsular  Rivers  Component  and  14  links  under  Himalayan Component of NPP for inter basin transfer. Pre-Feasibility  Reports  (PFRs)  of  all  the  30  links have  been  completed  and  Feasibility  Reports  (FRs)  of  24  links  and  Detailed  Project  Reports (DPRs) of eight links have been completed. The Govt. of India has approved the implementation of  Ken-  Betwa  Link  Project  (KBLP),  one  of  the  link  under  Peninsular  Rivers  Component,  in December, 2021 with an estimated cost of Rs 44605 Crores with central support of Rs 39317 Crores  through  a  Special  Purpose  Vehicle  viz;  Ken  Betwa  Link  Project  Authority  (KBLPA). Further,  under  the  intra-State  link  projects,  NWDA  received  49  link  proposals  from  the  10 States, out of which PFRs of 39 link projects and DPRs of six link projects were completed and sent to concerned States.

(c) Central/State Governments have accorded high priority to the optimum utilisation of flood water  through  construction  of  storage  and  diversion  projects.  Water  resources  projects  are primarily planned, funded, executed and maintained by the State Government as per their own need, priority and available resources. In order to supplement their efforts, Government of India provide  technical  and  financial  assistance  to  State  Governments  to  encourage  sustainable development  and  efficient  management  of  water  resources  through  various  schemes  and programmes  such  as  Accelerated  Irrigation  Benefits  Programme  (AIBP),  Har  Khet  ko  Pani (HKKP), etc. under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). Many of the projects under PMKSY store flood water during monsoon season in their reservoirs and multi-purpose storages  of  these  projects  have  helped  greatly  in  moderating  the  intensity  of  flood  in  the downstream flood plain area. To ensure proper use of rain water in the country, Central Ground water Board (CGWB) has prepared a master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater - 2020 in consultation with State Government /Union Territories which is a macro level plan indicating various  structures  for  different  terrain  conditions  of  the  country.  Ministry  of  Jal  Shkati  has launched 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain' with the tagline 'Catch the Rain where it falls, when  it  falls'  to  nudge  states  and  stakeholders  to  create  appropriate  Rain  Water  Harvesting structures(RWHS), suitable to the climatic condition and sub soil strata of the area, with people's active participation, during the pre monsoon and monsoon period. With a view to conserve water for  the  future,  the  Union  Government  launched  'Mission  Amrit  Sarovar'  on  24 th April  2022 aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country.

To strengthen the structural measures of flood magement, Ministry had implemented during XI & XII Plan Flood Management Programme (FMP) for providing Central Assistance to States for works related to flood control, anti-erosion, drainage development, anti-sea erosion, etc. which subsequently continued as a component of "Flood Management and Border Areas Programme" (FMBAP) for the period from 2017-18 to 2020-21 and further extended up to September 2022 with  limited  outlay.  So  far  Central  Assistance  amounting  to  Rs.  6763.42  Crores  has  been released  to  State  Government  /Union  Territories  under  this  Flood  Management  component  of FMBAP since inception.

Central  Water  Commission  (CWC) is the nodal  Organisation  entrusted  with  the  task  of  flood forecasting & early flood warnings in the country. Presently, CWC issues flood forecasts for 333 forecasting  stations  (199  river  level  forecast  stations  &  134  dam/  barrage  inflow  forecast stations). These stations cover 20 major river basins in 23 States & 2 Union Territories. In order to  provide  more  lead  time  to  the  local  authorities  to  plan  evacuation  of  people  &  take  other remedial measures, Central Water Commission (CWC)  has developed basin wise flood forecasting  model  based  on  rainfall-runoff  mathematical  modelling  for  5  days  advance  flood forecast advisory at identified flood forecasting and inflow forecasting stations.

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