Lok Sabha Question No. 1797 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-05
Subject: Interconnected Disaster Risks Report, 2023
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Benny Behanan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1797

ANSWERED ON - 05/12/2024

## INTERCONNECTED DISASTER RISKS REPORT, 2023

## 1797.  SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

a) the  measures  taken/being  taken  to  increase  certified  status  of  household  tap  connections under Har Ghar Jal Mission, considering only 54% of villages have such certification reported;

(b)  the  manner  in  which  the  Government  addressing  the  severe  water  crisis  caused  by overexploitation of groundwater as highlighted in the 'Interconnected Disaster Risks Report, 2023';

(c) whether the Government proposes to make household rainwater harvesting mandatory and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the present status of the Interlinking of rivers project as water scarcity increasingly becomes a challenge?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI V. SOMANNA)

(a) Since August 2019, Government of India, in partnership with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) - Har Ghar Jal to make provision of tap water supply to every rural household in the country.

Water is a state subject. The responsibility of planning, approval, implementation, operation, and maintenance (O&M) of drinking water supply schemes lies with State/UT Governments. The Government of India supports the States by providing technical and financial assistance.

As per Operational Guidelines of JJM, after making provision of tap connections to all rural households  in  a  village,  the  Department  implementing  the  scheme  provides  completion certificate to Gram Panchayat and marks the village as 'Har Ghar Jal' village on JJM-IMIS. Subsequently, Gram Sabha while reading out aloud the work completion report in its meeting, formally passes resolution certifying itself as 'Har Ghar Jal' village. The copy of certificate provided by implementing department, resolution passed by Gram Sabha, and a small video capturing the Gram Sabha is reflected on JJM Dashboard and village is marked certified in JJMIMIS. As such, certification is carried out only at village level and only after providing tap connections to all households in the village

To review the progress of implementation of JJM in States/ UTs, Department of Drinking Water and  Sanitation  regularly  conducts  review  meetings  wherein  States/  UTs  are  requested  to

increase  the  'Har  Ghar  Jal'  certification  and  update  it  on  JJM  dashboard.  Besides,  this department  also  conducts  field  visits/  holds  workshops  with  States,  wherein  States  are repeatedly impressed upon to increase the HGJ certification.

In Oct, 2022, the 'Jal Jeevan Survekshan (JJS)' was launched by the Hon'ble Vice President of India to assess districts and States/UTs on their performance in achieving the objectives of the JJM. The overarching purpose is to motivate and bring healthy competition among the districts and recognizing the efforts of the top performing districts periodically. Under JJS, the monthly, quarterly and annual national ranking of districts were published as per the pre-defined criteria. To  motivate  the  districts  to  get  the  villages  certified  as  'Har  Ghar  Jal',  under  a  particular category, the criteria of HGJ certification was also given weightage in calculation of the score of the district.

Till 3 rd Dec, 2024, out of total 2.46 Lakhs 'Har Ghar Jal' reported villages, 1.47 Lakhs (59.56%) villages have been certified by respective GPs as 'Har Gar Jal'.

(b) The Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country are being assessed every year from 2022 jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments. As per the 2023 assessment, the Total Annual Ground Water Recharge is 449 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) and the Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource is 407 BCM. The Total Annual Ground Water Extraction of the entire country for the year 2023 has been estimated as 241 billion cubic meter (bcm), of which the domestic use accounts for 11% (27.57 bcm). The Stage of Ground Water Extraction, which is a measure of Annual Ground Water Extraction for all uses (irrigation, industrial and domestic uses) over Annual Extractable Ground Water Resource is 59% for the country as a whole.

Out of the total 6,553 assessment units (Blocks/ Mandals/ Talukas) in the country, 736 units in various  States/  UTs  (11.23%)  have  been  categorized  as  'Over-exploited'  indicating  ground water extraction exceeding the annually replenishable ground water recharge. In, 199 (3.04 %) assessment  units  the  stage  of  groundwater  extraction  is  between  90-100%  and  have  been categorized as 'Critical'. There are 698 (10.65 %) 'Semi-critical'' units, where the stage of ground water extraction is between 70 % and 90 % and 4793 (73.14 %) 'Safe 'units, where the stage of Ground water extraction is less than 70 %.

(c) Water being a State subject, the aspects related to water resources including its conservation are studied, planned, funded and executed by the State Governments themselves as per their own  resources  and  priorities.  Role  of  Government  of  India  is  limited  to  being  catalytic, providing technical support and, in some cases partial financial assistance in terms with the existing schemes  being implemented  by  the Department  of  Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. However, various steps have been taken to encourage water harvesting in country:

- i) Ministry has circulated a Model Bill to all the States/UTs to enable them to enact suitable  ground  water  legislation  for  regulation  of  its  development,  which  also includes provision of rain water harvesting. So far, 21 States/UTs have adopted and implemented the ground water legislation. The model bill envisages that in urban areas, rain water available from roof tops of buildings and other open areas can be utilized  gainfully  for  ground  water  recharge.  Rain  water  harvesting  structures

feasible in urban areas include recharge pits, trench, existing tube wells or open wells etc.

- ii) Also, as per MoJS guidelines, dated 24.09.2020 and amendments thereof dated 29.03.2023,  Project  Proponents  (Industry,  Infrastructure  and  Mining)  have  to submit 'Copy of Rain Water Harvesting Plan submitted to Government agency by the  applicant  or  a  proposal  for  rain  water  harvesting/  recharge  in  the  project premises as per the prevailing Model Building Bye Laws issued by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India' for obtaining NOC from CGWA for  GW  extraction.  Further,  DoWR,  MoJS  has  recently  (31.03.2023)  issued advisory  to Chief  Secretaries/  Administrators of all  States/  UTs  regarding implementation  of  RWH  and  AR  along  with  SOP  and  Dos  and  Don'ts.  BIS document on standards for RWH has also been included in the advisory. CGWA also  forwarded  the  advisory  to  all  SGWAs  and  concerned  State  Principal Secretaries.
- iii) National  Water  Policy  (2012)  has  been  formulated  by  Department  of  Water Resources, RD & GR, advocates rainwater harvesting and conservation of water. In urban, rainwater harvesting wherever techno-economically feasible, should be encouraged to increase availability of utilizable water. Implementation of rainwater harvesting should include scientific monitoring of parameters like hydrogeology, groundwater contamination, pollution and spring discharges.
- iv) Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has released Model Building Bye-laws, 2016 which recommends Rainwater Harvesting for all types of Building with plot size 100  sq.m  or  more.    So  far,  35  States  have  incorporated  the  provisions  in  their respective building bye laws.
- v) Central  Ground  Water  Board  (CGWB)  has  completed  the  National  Aquifer Mapping (NAQUIM) Project in the entire mappable area of about 25 Lakh sq. km. The Aquifer maps and management plans have been prepared and shared with the respective  State  agencies  for  implementation.  The  management  plans  include various water conservation measures through recharge structures.
- vi) CGWB has prepared a Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 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  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. DPR has to be prepared by the concerned line department of the respective State Government at an implementable level like any other water supply project or city development project. Implementation has to be done through existing schemes of the respective State Government only and no separate scheme/fund has been envisaged for implementation. The Master Plan for Artificial  Recharge  to  Groundwater-  2020  circulated  to  all  the  States/UTs  for implementation.

(d)  Government  of  India  formulated  a  National  Perspective  Plan  (NPP)  in  year  1980  and National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has been entrusted with work of Interlinking of  Rivers  (ILR)  under  NPP.    The  Scheme  of  Interlinking  of  Rivers  (ILR)  under  National Perspective Plan (NPP) has been formulated for providing storages and transfer of surplus

waters  to  water  deficit  regions  to  minimize  the  miseries  brought  by  droughts  and  also to mitigate the ravages of annually recurring floods.

Under NPP, 30 link projects have been identified, 16 link projects under Peninsular component and  14  link  projects  under  Himalayan  component.  Government  of  India  has  accorded  top priority to Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) Programme.

Out of these 30 link projects, Detailed Project Reports of 11 link projects, Feasibility Reports (FR)  of  26  link  projects  and  Pre-Feasibility  Reports  (PFR)  of  all  the  30  link  projects  is completed. Five projects have been identified as 'Priority link projects' viz; Ken Betwa Link Project  (KBLP),  Godavari-Cauvery  link  project  (comprised  of  3  projects)  and  Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal link (PKC) Link project. Ken Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is first link of NPP that is under implementation.

Out of 30 link projects, FRs for following 4 projects are not required to be prepared:

- i) Kosi-Mechi Inter State link -  PFR prepared and proposal dropped and Kosi-Mechi Intra State link is taken up
2. ii) Jogighopa-Tista-Farakka link   -  PFR prepared and proposal dropped
3. iii) Bedti - Varda link - DPR was prepared directly after preparation of its PFR, no FR was prepared.
4. iv) Netravati - Hemavati link -  Further studies after PFR preparation, are not taken up since after implementation of Yettinahole project by Govt. of Karnataka, as no surplus water is available in Netravati basin for diversion through this link.

Out of 26 FRs prepared, draft FR of Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga link has further substantial amendments. Status of all 30 ILR Projects is enclosed at Annex.

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## Annex  referred  to  in  part  (d)  of  Lok  Sabha  unstarred  Q.  No.  1797  for  answer  on 05/12/2024

## Status of Inter-basin Water Transfer Link Schemes Under Peninsular Component

|   Sl. No | Name                                                                       | States benefited                          | Status                                         |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | a) Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link                    | AP&Odisha                                 | FRcompleted                                    |
|        1 | b) Alternate Mahanadi (Barmul) - Rushikulya - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link | AP &Odisha                                | FRcompleted                                    |
|        2 | Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link ##                        | AP                                        | FRcompleted                                    |
|        3 | a.) Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link                 | Telangana                                 | FRcompleted                                    |
|        3 | b) Alternate Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link *      | Telangana                                 | DPRcompleted                                   |
|        4 | Godavari (Inchampalli / SSMPP) - Krishna (Pulichintala) link               | Telangana&AP                              | DPRcompleted                                   |
|        5 | a.) Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link                     | AP                                        | FRcompleted                                    |
|        5 | b.) Alternate Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link *         | AP                                        | DPRcompleted                                   |
|        6 | Krishna (Srisailam)- Pennar link                                           | AP                                        | Draft DPRcompleted                             |
|        7 | Krishna (Almatti) -Pennar link                                             | AP&Karnataka                              | Draft DPRcompleted                             |
|        8 | a.) Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link                        | AP,TamilNadu& Puducherry                  | FRcompleted                                    |
|        8 | b) Alternate Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link *             | AP, Tamil Nadu& Puducherry                | DPRcompleted                                   |
|        9 | Cauvery(Kattalai) - Vaigai - Gundar link                                   | Tamil Nadu                                | DPRcompleted                                   |
|       10 | a) Parbati -Kalisindh - Chambal link                                       | MP&Rajasthan                              | FRcompleted                                    |
|       10 | b) Modified Parbati - Kalisindh- Chambal link ( duly integrated with ERCP) | MP &Rajasthan                             | Draft PFR completed                            |
|       11 | Damanganga - Pinjal link                                                   | Maharashtra (only water supply to Mumbai) | DPRcompleted                                   |
|       12 | Par-Tapi-Narmada link                                                      | Gujarat& Maharashtra                      | DPRcompleted                                   |
|       13 | Ken-Betwa link                                                             | Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh            | DPR completed &project is under implementation |
|       14 | Pamba-Achankovil - Vaippar link                                            | Tamil Nadu and Kerala                     | FRcompleted                                    |
|       15 | Bedti - Varda link #                                                       | Karnataka                                 | DPRcompleted                                   |
|       16 | Netravati - Hemavati link **                                               | Karnataka                                 | PFRcompleted                                   |

- *Due to pending consensus on Manibhadra and Inchampalli dams, Alternate study to divert unutilized waters of Godavari river was carried out and DPR of Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link project was completed. Godavari-Cauvery link project has  been  prepared  comprising  of  Godavari  (Inchampalli)    -  Krishna    (Nagarjunasagar),  Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)- Pennar (Somasila) and Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link projects.
- ** Further studies are not taken up since after implementation of Yettinahole project by Govt. of Karnataka, as no surplus water is available in Netravati basin for diversion through this link.
- ##  Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link - The project has been taken up by Govt. of Andhra Pradesh.
- #    Bedti - Varda link - DPR was prepared directly after preparation of its PFR, no FR was prepared

## Himalayan Component

|   Sl. No. | NameoftheLink                                         | Country/ States benefited   | Status                                        |
|-----------|-------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Kosi-Mechi link                                       | Bihar&Nepal                 | PFRcompleted                                  |
|         2 | Kosi-Ghaghra link                                     | Bihar&U.P&Nepal             | FRcompleted                                   |
|         3 | Gandak - Ganga link                                   | U.P &Nepal                  | FRcompleted                                   |
|         4 | Ghaghra - Yamunalink                                  | U.P &Nepal                  | Draft FRcompleted                             |
|         5 | Sarda - Yamunalink                                    | U.P &Uttarakhand            | FR completed                                  |
|         6 | Yamuna-Rajasthan link                                 | Haryana &Rajasthan          | FRcompleted                                   |
|         7 | Rajasthan-Sabarmati link                              | Rajasthan &Gujarat          | FRcompleted                                   |
|         8 | Chunar - Sone Barrage link                            | Bihar&U.P.                  | Draft FRcompleted                             |
|         9 | SoneDam-SouthernTributariesofGangalink                | Bihar &Jharkhand            | Draft FRcompleted                             |
|        10 | Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S-T-G) link              | Assam,W.B&Bihar             | FRcompleted                                   |
|        11 | Jogighopa-Tista-Farakka link (Alternative to M-S-T-G) | Assam,W.B&Bihar             | PFR completed (The proposal has been dropped) |
|        12 | Farakka-Sundarbans link                               | W.B                         | FRcompleted                                   |
|        13 | Ganga(Farakka)-Damodar-Subarnarekhalink               | W.B.,Odisha&Jharkhand       | FRcompleted                                   |
|        14 | Subarnarekha-Mahanadi link                            | W.B. &Odisha                | FR completed                                  |

****