Lok Sabha Question No. 1527 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-04
Subject: Effective Early Warning System (EWS)
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Shri Hanuman Beniwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1527

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 4 TH  DECEMBER, 2024

## EFFECTIVE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM (EWS)

## † 1527.   SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has set up an Effective Early Warning System (EWS) to warn people against natural disasters such as earthquakes, flood, landslides, and Tsunami, if so, the details thereof; and
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  concrete  measures  for  the  conservation  of ground water to prevent water shortage due to the serious decline in the ground water level, if so, the details thereof ?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) Presently, there is no scientific technique available anywhere in the world to predict an earthquake precisely in terms of time, location, and magnitude, and hence, no proven system exists in the country to provide early warning of earthquakes.

Flood  forecasting  is  the  mandate  of  the  Central  Water  Commission  (CWC).  Flood Meteorological Offices (FMOs) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) provide river sub-basin-wise Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF) and Hydromet Bulletin at 0930 hours and 1230 hours every day, respectively. These inputs are used for flood forecasts by the Central Flood Forecasting Division (CFFDs) of CWC.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is mandated to conduct landslide studies in the landslide prone areas across 19 States/Union territories of the country. GSI launched the National Landslide Susceptibility  Mapping  (NLSM)  Programme  in  2014-15  for generating  the  baseline  data  on  a  1:  50,000  scale  and  completed  the  landslide susceptibility mapping of 4.3 lakh sq.km of landslide-prone areas in India.

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC), established in 2007 at the Indian National  Centre  for  Ocean  Information  Services  (INCOIS),  an  autonomous  institute under this ministry, provides warnings to all the coastal regions of India.

- (b) The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) monitors groundwater levels throughout the country on a regional scale four times a year during the months of March/April/May, August, November, and January.  For  monitoring  of  groundwater  level,  CGWB  has  a dedicated  network  of  about  25000  monitoring  stations  called  'National  Hydrograph Network  Stations  (NHNS)',  which  comprises  open  dug  wells  and  purpose-built bore/tube  wells  for  water  level  monitoring  called  piezometers.  CGWB  has  initiated automatic  high-frequency  monitoring  by  installing  Digital  Water  Level  Recorders (DWLR) with telemetry systems under the National Hydrology Project (NHP).

Following are a few of the Government measures for the conservation of groundwater being implemented:

- i. Atal Bhujal Yojana, in 8,213 water-stressed Gram Panchayats (GPs) in 80 districts of  7  States,  viz.,  Haryana,  Gujarat,  Karnataka,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme marks a paradigm shift from groundwater development to groundwater management.
- ii. CGWB has  completed  the National  Aquifer  Mapping  (NAQUIM)  Project in  the entire  mappable  area  of  about  25  lakh  sq.  km.,  which  has  been  shared  with  the respective  State  agencies  for  implementation.  The  management  plans  include various water conservation measures through recharge structures.
- iii. CGWB has also prepared  a Master  Plan for Artificial  Recharge  to  Groundwater2020 in  consultation  with  States/UTs,  which  is  a  macro-level  plan  indicating various  structures  for  the  different  terrain  conditions  of  the  country,  including estimated cost. The Master Plan has provisions for the construction of about 1.42 crore  rainwater  harvesting  and  artificial  recharge  structures  in  the  country  to harness 185 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) of monsoon rainfall.
- iv. CGWB, under the  Ground  Water  Management and  Regulation  Scheme,  has  also implemented  several  successful  artificial  recharge  projects  in  the  country  for demonstrative purposes, which enable the State Governments to replicate the same in suitable hydro-geological conditions.
- v. National  Water  Policy  (2012) has  been  formulated  by  the  Department  of  Water Resources, RD  &  GR,  which  inter-alia  advocates rainwater harvesting and conservation of water and also highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through direct use of rainfall.

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