Lok Sabha Question No. 171 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-20
Subject: Decrease in Water Table
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Feroze Varun Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 171

ANSWERED ON 20.07.2023

## DECREASE IN WATER TABLE

## 171. SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) the details of decrease in the water table across the country divided into various regions since, 2000;

(b) whether the Government has taken any measures under Har Ghar Jal Yojana to conserve water and reduce the rate of decline in water table across the country;

(c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether there is a proposal to update the current framework for ground water management to tackle the challenges related to decrease in water table; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a) Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), an organisation under the Department of Water Resources, River  Development  &  Ganga  Rejuvenation  is  periodically  monitoring  the  ground  water  levels throughout  the  country  on  a  regional  scale,  through  a  network  of  monitoring  wells.  The  water  level data collected by CGWB during November 2022 has been compared with the groundwater level data of November 2000. Analysis of water level data indicates that about 34.1% of the wells monitored have registered  fall  in  ground  water  levels  while  65.6%  of  the  wells  have  registered  rise  in  ground  water levels. The State-wise details in this regard are given in Annexure-I.

Further,  in  order  to  assess  the  long  term  fluctuation  in  ground  water  level,  the  water  level  data collected by CGWB during November 2022 has been compared with the mean of November (20002021). Analysis of water level data indicates that about 38.4% of the wells monitored have registered fall  in  ground water levels while 61.6% of the wells have registered rise in ground water levels. The State-wise details are given in Annexure-II .

(b) & (c) Since  August,  2019,  Government of India in partnership with States is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to make provision of potable tap water supply to every rural household of the country  by  2024.   Drinking  water  being  a  State  subject,  it  is  States,  who  plan,  design,  approve  and implement drinking water supply schemes; however, Government of India supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical and financial assistance.

Under JJM it has been mandated for the States to carry out activities for source recharging, viz. dedicated bore well recharge structures, rain water recharge, rejuvenation of existing water bodies, etc. by adopting watershed/ spring-shed principles, in convergence with various Central/State Government schemes.

The efforts to effectively harvest the rain water including sustainable groundwater management fall under  States'  mandate;  however,  a  number  of  steps  have  been  taken  by  Central  Government  in  this regard which can be seen at https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s3a70dc40477bc2adceef4d2c90f47eb82/uploads/2023/02/2023021742.pd f

(d)  &  (e) Government  of  India  is  promoting  participatory  groundwater  management  involving  the communities  to  prepare  water  conservation  plan  and  take  active  participation  in  management  of groundwater  resources  at  village  level.  Further,  the  concept  of  crop  rotation,  crop  diversification, focusing on water use efficiency  at farm  level through micro irrigation  (drip and sprinkler irrigation system etc) is also being promoted to conserve the groundwater resources.

In addition, CGWB is assisting the States/UTs in the field of sustainable groundwater management by  using  the  latest  available  technologies  like  Time  domain  Electromagnetic  (TEM)  survey  and Helicopter  borne  surveys,  in  addition  to  technologies  like  Vertical  Electrical  Sounding  (VES), exploratory drilling etc. CGWB has prepared the aquifer maps of entire mappable area of the country including  determining  the  aquifer  characteristics  and  their  management  plans  by  using  latest  survey techniques  under  National  Aquifer  Mapping  Program  (NAQUIM  1.0).  The  management  plans  have been shared with States/UTs for suitable interventions.

CGWB has  taken  up  aquifer  mapping  (NAQUIM  2.0)  at  varied  finer  scale  in  eleven  types  of identified priority areas. These areas have been identified based on ground water related issues/criticality of groundwater situations like water stressed areas, urban agglomerates, coastal areas, industrial cluster & mining areas, areas with spring as the principle sources, areas with deeper aquifers, ground  water  contamination,  auto  flow  zones,  canal  command  areas,  areas  with  poor  ground  water quality etc.

In addition, the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has taken  up  strengthening  of  the  groundwater  monitoring  network  by  installing  Digital  Water  Level Recorder  (DWLR)  along  with  telemetry  system  for  dissemination  of  groundwater  level  data  on  real time  basis  through  a  web-based  system  maintained  by  National  Water  Informatics  Centre,  an organisation  under  the  Department,  for  better  policy  formulation  and  timely  interventions  by  stakeholders.

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 171 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.07.2023 REGARDING 'DECREASE IN WATER TABLE'.

State Wise - Fluctuation of Water Level of November 2022 with November 2000

| Sl. No.   | Name of State          | No. of wells Analysed   | Rise   | Rise   | Rise   | Rise   | Rise   | Rise       | Fall     | Fall        | Fall   | Fall       | Fall   | Fall       |           |       |          |             |
|-----------|------------------------|-------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|------------|----------|-------------|--------|------------|--------|------------|-----------|-------|----------|-------------|
| Sl. No.   | Name of State          |                         | 0-2m   | 0-2m   | 2-4m   | 2-4m   | >4m    | >4m        | 0-2m     | 0-2m        | 2-4m   | 2-4m       | >4m    | >4m        | Rise      | Rise  |          |             |
| Sl. No.   | Name of State          |                         | No     | %      | No     | %      | No     | %          | No       | %           | No     | %          | No     | %          | No        | %     | No       | %           |
| 1.        | Andhra Pradesh         | 224                     | 124    | 55.4%  | 27     | 12.1%  | 17     | 7.6%       | 49       | 21.9%       | 6      | 2.7%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 168       | 75.0% | 55       | 24.6%       |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh      | 5                       | 1      | 20.0%  | 0      | 0.0%   | 0      | 0.0%       | 4        | 80.0%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 1 20.0%   |       | 4        | 80.0%       |
| 3         | Assam                  | 123                     | 60     | 48.8%  | 9      | 7.3%   | 1      | 0.8%       | 44       | 35.8%       | 7      | 5.7%       | 2      | 1.6%       | 70        | 56.9% | 53       | 43.1%       |
| 4         | Bihar                  | 197                     | 72     | 36.5%  | 9      | 4.6%   | 3      | 1.5%       | 90       | 45.7%       | 12     | 6.1%       | 10     | 5.1%       | 84        | 42.6% | 112      | 56.9%       |
| 5         | Chandigarh             | 6                       | 0      | 0.0%   | 0      | 0.0%   | 0      | 0.0%       | 2        | 33.3%       | 1      | 16.7%      | 3      | 50.0%      | 0         | 0.0%  | 6        | 100.0%      |
| 6         | Chhattisgarh           | 181                     | 77     | 42.5%  | 20     | 11.0%  | 15     | 8.3%       | 57       | 31.5%       | 10     | 5.5%       | 1      | 0.6%       | 112       | 61.9% | 68       | 37.6%       |
| 7         | Dadra And Nagar Haveli | 7                       | 4      | 57.1%  | 0      | 0.0%   | 0      | 0.0%       | 3        | 42.9%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 4         | 57.1% | 3        | 42.9%       |
| 8         | Delhi                  | 26                      | 11     | 42.3%  | 5      | 19.2%  | 0      | 0.0%       | 2        | 7.7%        | 1      | 3.8%       | 6      | 23.1%      | 16        | 61.5% | 9        | 34.6%       |
| 9         | Goa                    | 31                      | 5      | 16.1%  | 1      | 3.2%   | 0      | 0.0%       | 25       | 80.6%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 6         | 19.4% | 25       | 80.6%       |
| 10        | Gujarat                | 457                     | 87     | 19.0%  | 88     | 19.3%  | 228    | 49.9%      | 39       | 8.5%        | 7      | 1.5%       | 8      | 1.8%       | 403       | 88.2% | 54       | 11.8%       |
| 11        | Haryana                | 111                     | 36     | 32.4%  | 20     | 18.0%  | 13     | 11.7%      | 17       | 15.3%       | 5      | 4.5%       | 20     | 18.0%      | 69        | 62.2% | 42       | 37.8%       |
| 12        | Himachal Pradesh       | 54                      | 18     | 33.3%  | 9      | 16.7%  | 3      | 5.6%       | 17       | 31.5%       | 6      | 11.1%      | 1      | 1.9%       | 30        | 55.6% | 24       | 44.4%       |
| 13        | Jammu and Kashmir      | 87                      | 35     | 40.2%  | 8      | 9.2%   | 1      | 1.1%       | 33       | 37.9%       | 4      | 4.6%       | 6      | 6.9% 44    |           | 50.6% | 43       | 49.4%       |
| 14        | Jharkhand              | 75                      | 27     | 36.0%  | 11     | 14.7%  | 2      | 2.7%       | 23       | 30.7%       | 11     | 14.7%      | 1      | 1.3%       | 40        | 53.3% | 35       | 46.7%       |
| 15        | Karnataka              | 464                     | 177    | 38.1%  | 61     | 13.1%  | 49     | 10.6%      | 136      | 29.3%       | 26     | 5.6%       | 10     | 2.2%       | 287       | 61.9% | 172      | 37.1%       |
| 16        | Kerala                 | 477                     | 235    | 49.3%  | 35     | 7.3%   | 9      | 1.9%       | 170      | 35.6%       | 18     | 3.8%       | 8      | 1.7%       | 279       | 58.5% | 196      | 41.1%       |
| 17        | Madhya Pradesh         | 733                     | 270    | 36.8%  | 162    | 22.1%  | 143    | 19.5%      | 98       | 13.4%       | 35     | 4.8%       | 23     | 3.1%       | 575       | 78.4% | 156      | 21.3%       |
| 18        | Maharashtra            | 715                     | 299    | 41.8%  | 116    | 16.2%  | 61     | 8.5%       | 197      | 27.6%       | 22     | 3.1%       | 13     | 1.8%       | 476 66.6% |       | 232      | 32.4%       |
| 19        | Meghalaya              | 20                      | 10     | 50.0%  | 1      | 5.0%   | 1      | 5.0%       | 7        | 35.0%       | 1      | 5.0%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 12        | 60.0% | 8        | 40.0%       |
| 20        | Orissa                 | 470                     | 237    | 50.4%  | 98     | 20.9%  | 23     | 4.9%       | 95       | 20.2%       | 14     | 3.0%       | 1      | 0.2%       | 358       | 76.2% | 110      | 23.4%       |
| 21        | Pondicherry            | 4                       | 2      | 50.0%  | 0      | 0.0%   | 1      | 25.0%      | 1        | 25.0%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 0      | 0.0%       | 3         | 75.0% | 1        | 25.0%       |
| 22        | Punjab                 | 76                      | 19     | 25.0%  | 3      | 3.9%   | 3      | 3.9%       | 21       | 27.6%       | 5      | 6.6%       | 25     | 32.9%      | 25        | 32.9% | 51       | 67.1%       |
| 23        | Rajasthan              | 338                     | 58     | 17.2%  | 58     | 17.2%  | 135    | 39.9%      | 24       | 7.1%        | 15     | 4.4%       | 48     | 14.2%      | 251       | 74.3% | 87       | 25.7%       |
| 24        | Tamil Nadu             | 503                     | 164    | 32.6%  | 108    | 21.5%  | 144    | 28.6%      | 57       | 11.3%       | 18     | 3.6%       | 12     | 2.4%       | 416       | 82.7% | 87       | 17.3%       |
| 25        | Telangana              | 139                     | 60     | 43.2%  | 34     | 24.5%  | 22     | 15.8%      | 17       | 12.2%       | 3      | 2.2%       | 3      | 2.2%       | 116       | 83.5% | 23       | 16.5%       |
| 26        | Tripura                | 4                       | 2      | 50.0%  | 1      | 25.0%  | 0      | 0.0%       | 1        | 25.0%       | 0      | 0.0% 0     |        | 0.0%       | 3         | 75.0% | 1        | 25.0%       |
| 27        | Uttar Pradesh          | 421                     | 145    | 34.4%  | 18     | 4.3%   | 6      | 1.4%       | 174      | 41.3%       | 44     | 10.5% 34   |        | 8.1%       | 169       | 40.1% | 252      | 59.9%       |
|           | Uttaranchal            | 16                      | 7      | 43.8%  | 1      |        | 1      |            | 1        | 6.3%        | 2      | 12.5%      | 4      |            | 9         | 56.3% | 7        | 43.8%       |
| 28        |                        |                         |        |        |        | 6.3%   |        | 6.3%       |          |             |        |            |        | 25.0%      |           |       |          |             |
| 29        | West Bengal            | 345                     | 92     | 26.7%  | 14     | 4.1%   | 5 886  | 1.4% 14.0% | 115 1519 | 33.3% 24.1% | 55     | 15.9% 5.2% | 64 303 | 18.6% 4.8% | 111 65.6% | 32.2% | 234 2150 | 67.8% 34.1% |
|           | Total                  | 6309                    | 2334   | 37.0%  | 917    | 14.5%  |        |            |          |             | 328    |            |        |            | 4137      |       |          |             |

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  171  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA  ON 20.07.2023 REGARDING 'DECREASE IN WATER TABLE'.

Depth to Water Level Fluctuation with Mean [November (2000 to 2021)] and November 2022

| S.N.   | State/UT                  | No. of wells Analysed   |      |        |      |       |      |       | Fall   | Fall        | Fall   | Fall   | Fall   | Fall   | Fall      | Rise Fall   | Rise Fall   | Rise Fall   |
|--------|---------------------------|-------------------------|------|--------|------|-------|------|-------|--------|-------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| S.N.   | State/UT                  |                         | 0-2m | 0-2m   | 2-4m | 2-4m  | >4m  | >4m   | 0-2m   | 0-2m        | 2-4m   | 2-4m   | >4m    | >4m    |           |             |             |             |
| S.N.   | State/UT                  |                         | No   | %      | No   | %     | No   | %     | No     | %           | No     | %      | No     | %      | No        | %           | No          | %           |
| 1      | Andaman and Nicobar       | 99                      | 70   | 70.7%  | 2    | 2.0%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 26     | 26.3%       | 0      | 0.0%   | 0      | 0.0%   | 72        | 72.7%       | 26          | 26.3%       |
| 2      | Andhra Pradesh            | 663                     | 339  | 51.1%  | 104  | 15.7% | 56   | 8.4%  | 149    | 22.5%       | 12     | 1.8%   | 3      | 0.5%   | 499       | 75.3%       | 164         | 24.7%       |
| 3      | Arunachal Pradesh         | 9                       | 2    | 22.2%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 6      | 66.7%       | 1      | 11.1%  | 0      | 0.0%   | 2         | 22.2%       | 7           | 77.8%       |
| 4      | Assam                     | 171                     | 94   | 55.0%  | 2    | 1.2%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 68     | 39.8%       | 5      | 2.9%   | 2      | 1.2%   | 96        | 56.1%       | 75          | 43.9%       |
| 5      | Bihar                     | 642                     | 288  | 44.9%  | 17   | 2.6%  | 4    | 0.6%  | 285    | 44.4%       | 38     | 5.9%   | 10     | 1.6%   | 309       | 48.1%       | 333         | 51.9%       |
| 6      | Chandigarh                | 14                      | 2    | 14.3%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 1    | 7.1%  | 6      | 42.9%       | 3      | 21.4%  | 2      | 14.3%  | 3         | 21.4%       | 11          | 78.6%       |
| 7      | Chhattisgarh              | 718                     | 358  | 49.9%  | 78   | 10.9% | 20   | 2.8%  | 216    | 30.1%       | 32     | 4.5%   | 14     | 1.9%   | 456       | 63.5%       | 262         | 36.5%       |
| 8      | Dadra And Nagar Haveli    | 15                      | 9    | 60.0%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 6      | 40.0%       | 0      | 0.0%   | 0      | 0.0%   | 9         | 60.0%       | 6           | 40.0%       |
| 9      | Delhi                     | 84                      | 24   | 28.6%  | 15   | 17.9% | 14   | 16.7% | 16     | 19.0%       | 2      | 2.4%   | 13     | 15.5%  | 53        | 63.1%       | 31          | 36.9%       |
| 10     | Goa                       | 63                      | 9    | 14.3%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 48     | 76.2%       | 5      | 7.9%   | 1      | 1.6%   | 9         | 14.3%       | 54          | 85.7%       |
| 11     | Gujarat                   | 716                     | 299  | 41.8%  | 126  | 17.6% | 91   | 12.7% | 141    | 19.7%       | 35     | 4.9%   | 24     | 3.4%   | 516       | 72.1%       | 200         | 27.9%       |
| 12     | Haryana                   | 261                     | 98   | 37.5%  | 29   | 11.1% | 12   | 4.6%  | 61     | 23.4%       | 28     | 10.7%  | 33     | 12.6%  | 139       | 53.3%       | 122         | 46.7%       |
| 13     | Himachal Pradesh          | 84                      | 28   | 33.3%  | 4    | 4.8%  | 3    | 3.6%  | 44     | 52.4%       | 3      | 3.6%   | 2      | 2.4%   | 35        | 41.7%       | 49          | 58.3%       |
| 14     | Jammu and Kashmir         | 271                     | 104  | 38.4%  | 7    | 2.6%  | 3    | 1.1%  | 146    | 53.9%       | 10     | 3.7%   | 0      | 0.0%   | 114       | 42.1%       | 156         | 57.6%       |
| 15     | Jharkhand                 | 177                     | 83   | 46.9%  | 11   | 6.2%  | 4    | 2.3%  | 62     | 35.0%       | 16     | 9.0%   | 1      | 0.6%   | 98        | 55.4%       | 79          | 44.6%       |
| 16     | Karnataka                 | 1329                    | 553  | 41.6%  | 206  | 15.5% | 144  | 10.8% | 383    | 28.8%       | 26     | 2.0%   | 16     | 1.2%   | 903       | 67.9%       | 425         | 32.0%       |
| 17     | Kerala                    | 1411                    | 568  | 40.3%  | 35   | 2.5%  | 6    | 0.4%  | 748    | 53.0%       | 42     | 3.0%   | 11     | 0.8%   | 609       | 43.2%       | 801         | 56.8%       |
| 18     | Madhya Pradesh            | 1260                    | 587  | 46.6%  | 299  | 23.7% | 130  | 10.3% | 190    | 15.1%       | 34     | 2.7%   | 20     | 1.6%   | 1016      | 80.6%       | 244         | 19.4%       |
| 19     | Maharashtra               | 1477                    | 664  | 45.0%  | 255  | 17.3% | 105  | 7.1%  | 368    | 24.9%       | 62     | 4.2%   | 22     | 1.5%   | 1024      | 69.3%       | 452         | 30.6%       |
| 20     | Meghalaya                 | 24                      | 10   | 41.7%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 1    | 4.2%  | 12     | 50.0%       | 1      | 4.2%   | 0      | 0.0%   | 11        | 45.8%       | 13          | 54.2%       |
| 21     | Nagaland                  | 4                       | 1    | 25.0%  | 1    | 25.0% | 0    | 0.0%  | 1      | 25.0%       | 1      | 25.0%  | 0      | 0.0%   | 2         | 50.0%       | 2           | 50.0%       |
| 22     | Orissa                    | 1212                    | 690  | 56.9%  | 39   | 3.2%  | 2    | 0.2%  | 450    | 37.1%       | 28     | 2.3%   | 3      | 0.2%   | 731       | 60.3%       | 481         | 39.7%       |
| 23     | Puducherry                | 4                       | 4    | 100.0% | 0    | 0.0%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 0      | 0.0%        | 0      | 0.0%   | 0      | 0.0%   | 4         | 100.0%      | 0           | 0.0%        |
| 24     | Punjab                    | 231                     | 57   | 24.7%  | 5    | 2.2%  | 3    | 1.3%  | 67     | 29.0%       | 48     | 20.8%  | 51     | 22.1%  | 65        | 28.1%       | 166         | 71.9%       |
| 25     | Rajasthan                 | 889                     | 266  | 29.9%  | 134  | 15.1% | 115  | 12.9% | 200    | 22.5%       | 73     | 8.2%   | 101    | 11.4%  | 515       | 57.9%       | 374         | 42.1%       |
| 26     | Tamil Nadu                | 625                     | 223  | 35.7%  | 162  | 25.9% | 143  | 22.9% | 78     | 12.5%       | 12     | 1.9%   | 7      | 1.1%   | 528       | 84.5%       | 97          | 15.5%       |
| 27     | Telangana                 | 512                     | 217  | 42.4%  | 109  | 21.3% | 141  | 27.5% | 37     | 7.2%        | 3      | 0.6%   | 5      | 1.0%   | 467       | 91.2%       | 45          | 8.8%        |
| 28     | Tripura                   | 20                      | 6    | 30.0%  | 1    | 5.0%  | 0    | 0.0%  | 11     | 55.0%       | 2      | 10.0%  | 0      | 0.0%   | 7         | 35.0%       | 13          | 65.0%       |
|        |                           |                         | 329  | 51.9%  | 39   | 6.2%  |      | 1.7%  |        |             | 38     | 6.0%   | 26     | 4.1%   | 379       | 59.8%       | 255         | 40.2%       |
| 29 30  | Uttar Pradesh Uttaranchal | 634 45                  | 22   | 48.9%  | 4    | 8.9%  | 11 2 | 4.4%  | 191 11 | 30.1% 24.4% | 4      | 8.9%   | 2      | 4.4%   | 28        | 62.2%       | 17          | 37.8%       |
| 31     | West Bengal               | 770                     | 164  | 21.3%  | 16   | 2.1%  | 9    | 1.2%  | 332    | 43.1%       | 120    | 15.6%  | 129    | 16.8%  | 189       | 24.5%       | 581         | 75.5%       |
|        | Total 14434               | Total 14434             | 6168 | 42.7%  | 1700 | 11.8% | 1020 | 7.1%  | 4359   | 30.2%       | 684    | 4.7%   | 498    |        | 3.5% 8888 | 61.6%       | 5541        | 38.4%       |

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