Lok Sabha Question No. 671 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-25
Subject: Rainwater Harvesting
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Smt. Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Shri Anil Firojiya, Smt. Aparajita Sarangi, Shri Dilip Saikia, Shri Manoj Tiwari, Smt. Malvika Devi, Shri Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan, Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato, Dr. Nishikant Dubey, Shri Shankar Lalwani, Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Smt. Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam, Shri Balya Mama Suresh Gopinath Mhatre, Shri Lumbaram Choudhary, Dr. Hemant Vishnu Savara, Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 671

ANSWERED ON 25.07.2024

## RAINWATER HARVESTING

671.

SMT. KAMALJEET SEHRAWAT

SHRI ANIL FIROJIYA

SMT. APARAJITA SARANGI

SHRI DILIP SAIKIA

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI

SMT. MALVIKA DEVI

SHRI RAVINDRA SHUKLA ALIAS RAVI KISHAN

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY

SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB

SMT. POONAMBEN HEMATBHAI MAADAM

SHRI BALYA MAMA SURESH GOPINATH MHATRE

SHRI LUMBA RAM

DR. HEMANT VISHNU SAVARA

SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) the steps taken and the schemes introduced by the Government to increase the practice of rainwater harvesting in the country;

- (b) the details of the schemes introduced to manage the increasing water stress and unequal distribution of water in the country;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to address the acute water scarcity and preparedness thereof in the NCT of Delhi and Palgarh district of Maharashtra along with the funds released during the last five years; and

(d) the steps being taken to increase awareness amongst villages about rain water harvesting?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) & (b) Water is a State subject and the the efforts to manage the increasing water stress and unequal distribution  of  water  in  the  country  falls  under  the  mandate  of  the  State  Government.  Central Government supplements the efforts of the States/UTs through technical and financial support. Water conservation through rainwater harvesting is one of the foremost priorities of the Central Government. Major steps taken by the Government for water conservation and rainwater harvesting to reduce water stress in the country are as follows:

- i. Government  of  India  has  been  implementing  a  scheme  namely  Mahatma  Gandhi  National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)  which inter-alia includes water conservation and water harvesting structures.
- ii. Financial  assistance  is  given  to  various  States  under  15th  Finance  Commission  tied  grants which can be inter-alia utilized for rainwater harvesting.
- iii. The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been implementing Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) since 2019 on an annual basis. In the current year, Ministry of Jal Shakti is implementing Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA: CTR) 2024, 5 th in the series of JSAs, in all the districts (rural as well as urban) of the country. JSA: CTR is a convergence of various Central Government schemes and funds like MGNREGS, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Per  Drop  More  Crop,  Repair,  Renovation  and  Restoration  Components  under  the  Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning  Authority  (CAMPA),  Finance  Commission  grants,  State  Government  schemes, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds etc. One of the major interventions undertaken under  the  campaign  includes  construction  and  repair  of  rainwater  harvesting  structures including rooftop and water harvesting structures.
- iv. Atal  Mission  for  Rejuvenation  and  Urban  Transformation  (AMRUT)  2.0  has  provisions  for harvesting the rainwater through storm water drains into water body (which is not receiving sewage/effluent). Through  preparation of 'Aquifer Management  Plan'  cities targets to strategize  groundwater  recharge  augmentation  by  developing  a  roadmap  for  improving  rain water  harvesting  within  city  limits.  Through  IEC  campaign,  awareness  is  created  about practices for water conservation like rainwater harvesting.
- v. Ministry  of  Housing  &  Urban  Affairs  has  formulated  guidelines  for  the  States  to  adopt measures suitable to local conditions, such as 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  with adequate focus on requirement of rainwater harvesting and water conservation measures.
- vi. Government  of  India  is  implementing  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 for a period of 5 years from 01.04.2020. The scheme marks a paradigm shift from groundwater development to groundwater management.
- vii. Government  of  India  has been implementing  'Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojana (PMKSY)' with an aim to enhance physical access of water on farm and expand cultivable area  under  assured  irrigation,  improve  on  farm  water  use  efficiency,  introduce  sustainable water conservation practices etc. PMKSY has three components/ schemes namely Har Khet Ko

Pani (HKKP), Repair, Renovation & Restoration (RRR) Scheme of Water Bodies and Surface Minor irrigation (SMI) Scheme.

- viii. The Ministry of Jal Shakti has set up the Bureau of Water Use Efficiency (BWUE) under the National Water Mission on 20.10.2022, to act as a facilitator for promotion of improving water use efficiency across various sectors namely  irrigation, drinking water supply,  power generation, industries, etc. in the country.
- ix. Central  Ground  Water  Board  (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.
- x. CGWB has  also  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  has provisions for 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.
- xi. CGWB,  under  Ground  Water  Management  &  Regulation  Scheme,  has  also  implemented several successful artificial recharge projects in the country for demonstrative purpose which enables the State Governments to replicate the same in suitable hydro-geological conditions.
- xii. National Water Policy (2012) has been formulated by 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.
- xiii. Department of  Land Resources  (DoLR) implements Watershed  Development Component of Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojana  (WDC-PMKSY) for  the  development  of  rainfed  and degraded lands in the country. The activities undertaken, inter-alia, include rainwater harvesting.
- xiv. The activity of installing rainwater harvesting structures at the Gram Panchayat level has been included in the Panchayat Development Plan (PDP) for Panchayats to opt for the same as per their  needs  for  execution  from  XV  Finance  Commission  (FC)  funds  or  any  other  available funds with them.
- xv. The  objective  of  National  Water  Mission,  Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti  is  "conservation  of  water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources development and management".

(c) Water  is  State  subject  and  the  efforts  to  effectively  manage  water  sources  and  to  address  acute water scarcity falls in the mandate of the State Government. However, various steps have been taken by the Central Government to address water scarcity in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi and Palgarh district of Maharashtra. Government of India has been implementing a scheme namely Mahatma Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS)  in  rural  areas  of  the  country

( except  Delhi  &  Chandigarh )  which  inter-alia  includes  public  works  relating  to  Natural  Resource Management such as water conservation and water harvesting structures. Details of works carried out for water conservation and water harvesting under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the district of Palgarh, Maharashtra, over the last five financial years is at Annexure I .

State Government of Maharashtra has informed that in order to address the acute water scarcity and preparedness thereof in Palgarh district of Maharashtra, Soil and Water Conservation Department has been established by the State Government to look after Small Scale Irrigation and water conservation works/schemes.  Till  date  182  schemes  having  irrigation  potential  of  4688  hectare  and  water  storage capacity of 9521 Thousand Million Cubic (TCM) have been completed in the Palgarh district. Further, 45 schemes are implemented in the district with irrigation potential of 1989 hectare and water storage capacity  of  4723  TCM.  The  details  of  funds  released  for  these  schemes  in  last  five  years  are  at Annexure II .  Apart from the above works/schemes, various other Central/State Government schemes have  been  implemented  in  Maharashtra  such  as  Jalyukt  Shivar  Mission  2.0,  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi Sinchayi  Yojana,  Jal  Shakti  Abhiyan:  Catch  the  Rain  campaign,  Galmukta  Dharan  Galyukt  Shivar (Desilting of dams) etc. to address the water scarcity in Maharashtra.

The  Government  of  NCT  of  Delhi  has  adopted  multi-pronged  strategy  to  meet  the  increasing demand of water and to thereof address the water scarcity. This includes augmentation of ground water resources  through  aquifer  recharge,  infrastructural  improvements  such  as  augmenting  the  capacity  of water  treatment  plants  along  with  adopting  measures  to  reduce  the  water  losses  in  transmission, distribution and theft through installation of flow meters.

Further, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the country including NCT of Delhi and Palgarh district of Maharashtra to monitor changes in water level and to assess long-time the long term fluctuation in ground water level. In Palgarh district, CGWB has 34 monitoring stations while in NCT of Delhi, CGWB has 135 monitoring stations. Public Investment Board (PIB) has also approved Project under Ground Water Management and Regulation Scheme  (Central  Sector  Scheme)  for  construction  of  piezometers  along  with  installation  of  Digital Water Level Recorders (DWLRs) with telemetry system.

(d) Following  steps  have  been  taken  to  increase  awareness  amongst  villages  about  rainwater harvesting:

- i. Under  Revamped  Rashtriya  Gram  Swaraj  Abhiyan  (RGSA),  States/UTs  are  encouraged  for capacity building and training of Elected Representatives (ERs), Officials and other stakeholders of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in various subjects, including the Water Conservation and Rainwater Harvesting.
- ii. National  Water  Mission  (NWM),  Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti  tied  up  with  Department  of  Youth Affairs to spread awareness to cover 31,150 villages in 623 districts on JSA: CTR campaign using  the  vast  network  of  Nehru  Yuva  Kendra  Sangathan  (NYKS)  and  its  youth  clubs.  The awareness generation drive by NYKS, started in December 2020, formed the foundation of the

massive  involvement  of  the  people  in  the  JSA:  CTR  campaign.  Additionally,  NWM  has collaborated  with  concerned  Ministries  for  broadcast  of  'Just  Junior'  series  on  television, promotion of 'Mission LiFE', etc.  NWM has also conducted 50 Water  Talks, 40 Dialogues with Districts Magistrates and various other workshops/seminars to spread awareness among public. Ministry of Jal Shakti has collaborated with Ministry of Railways for vinyl wrapping of two of our nation's most iconic trains i.e. the Himsagar Express and the Kamakhya Express. These  trains  journey  across  our  vast  and  diverse  country  carrying  a  vital  message  of  water conservation, awareness and community engagement.

- iii. Central Ground Water Board organizes awareness programmes on local ground water issues, wherein the stakeholder including villagers are made aware of rain water harvesting techniques and conservation of water harvesting structures.
- iv. Also, the Information Education Communication activities are undertaken by the Ministry of Jal  Shakti  to  disseminate  the  message  of  water  conservation  among  the  people.  The  social media  team  of  the  Department  regularly  creates  informative  posts  regarding  the  water conservation and highlights the programmes/schemes of the Ministry on social media handles of  the  Department.  Further,  press  release  on  important  events  of  Ministry  is  also  shared regularly with Press Information Bureau (PIB).

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 671 TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  25.07.2024  REGARDING  'RAINWATER HARVESTING'.

| Details of works carried out for water conservation and water harvesting under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the district of Palgarh, Maharashtra, over the last five financial years:   | Details of works carried out for water conservation and water harvesting under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the district of Palgarh, Maharashtra, over the last five financial years:   | Details of works carried out for water conservation and water harvesting under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the district of Palgarh, Maharashtra, over the last five financial years:   | Details of works carried out for water conservation and water harvesting under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the district of Palgarh, Maharashtra, over the last five financial years:   | Details of works carried out for water conservation and water harvesting under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the district of Palgarh, Maharashtra, over the last five financial years:   | Details of works carried out for water conservation and water harvesting under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the district of Palgarh, Maharashtra, over the last five financial years:   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Financial Year                                                                                                                                                                     | 2023-24                                                                                                                                                                            | 2022-23                                                                                                                                                                            | 2021-22                                                                                                                                                                            | 2020-21                                                                                                                                                                            | 2019-20                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Number of works completed                                                                                                                                                          | 442                                                                                                                                                                                | 728                                                                                                                                                                                | 460                                                                                                                                                                                | 446                                                                                                                                                                                | 193                                                                                                                                                                                |
| Expenditure on water conservation &water harvesting (Rs. in lakh)                                                                                                                  | 3,048.01                                                                                                                                                                           | 2,449.69                                                                                                                                                                           | 1,847.24                                                                                                                                                                           | 1,741.70                                                                                                                                                                           | 648.83                                                                                                                                                                             |

ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 671 TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  25.07.2024  REGARDING  'RAINWATER HARVESTING'.

| Year    |   Funds released (Rs. in Lakhs) |
|---------|---------------------------------|
| 2019-20 |                           15.32 |
| 2020-21 |                         3737.2  |
| 2021-22 |                         1807.74 |
| 2022-23 |                          826.01 |
| 2023-24 |                         3562.69 |

*****