Lok Sabha Question No. 1551 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-13
Subject: Acute Contamination in Groundwater of West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Kalyan Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1551

## ANSWERED ON 13.02.2025

## ACUTE CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER OF WEST BENGAL, BIHAR AND UTTAR PRADESH

## 1551. SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that an acute contamination has been reported in the groundwater in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether it has been reported that the groundwater in 56 percent of country's districts is seriously affected and has acute significant pollutant and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the increase in contaminated districts reported since 2015, year-wise; and

(d) the action taken/being taken by the Government so far on the report of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) Central  Ground  Water  Board  (CGWB)  conducts  ground  water  quality  monitoring  for  several contaminants Nitrate, Arsenic, Fluoride, Heavy metals etc. on a regular basis throughout the country and also generates ground water quality data on a regional scale during various scientific studies. These studies indicate that ground water in the country is largely potable. However, occurrence of the said contaminants in ground water beyond permissible limits (as per BIS) for human consumption has been reported in isolated pockets in various States / UTs, including West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

As  per  the  Annual  Ground  Water  Quality  Report,  2024  prepared  by  CGWB,  localized  occurrences  of  EC, nitrate  and  Fluoride  exceeding  the  prescribed  limits  for  drinking  water  were  reported  in  the  groundwater samples collected and analysed from isolated parts of West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. The State-wise occurrences of the said parameters beyond the prescribed limits for the year 2023 is presented in Annexure-I .

(b) Nitrates  have  been  reported  in  the  ground  water  samples  from  isolated  pockets  of  443  districts (approximately 56%) out of total 788 districts of the country.

Additionally, isolated occurrences of elevated Electrical Conductivity (EC) have been reported in 218 districts, while Fluoride beyond prescribed limit has been identified in isolated parts of 263 districts.

(c) Based on the Ground Water Quality Report, 2024, details of the number of districts partially affected by various groundwater contaminants from 2017 to 2023 are provided in Annexure -II.

(d) The  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  has  flagged  the  adverse  effects  caused  by  consumption  of contaminated ground water through various reports, policy documents and guidelines. For mitigation of ground

water contamination and with a view to provide safe drinking water to the country's population, the Union government has taken several notable initiatives, despite the fact that Water is a state subject and the onus of handling ground water quality issues lies mainly on the respective state governments. Some of the important measures of the Ministry of Jal Shakti and other Central Ministries in this direction are given below :

-  Data on ground water quality available with CGWB are made available in public domain through reports and also shared with concerned State Governments for taking necessary remedial measures. To further accelerate the dissemination of knowledge on ground water quality, CGWB has initiated the  practice  of  issuing  half-yearly  ground  water  quality  Bulletins  and  fortnightly  Alerts  so  that immediate action can be initiated in the reported areas.
-  Under the National Aquifer Mapping Programme (NAQUIM) of CGWB, special attention is being given to the aspect of ground water quality including contamination by toxic substances in ground water.  CGWB  is  successfully  constructing  Arsenic  free  wells  in  arsenic  affected  areas  using  the innovative  cement  sealing  technology  for  tapping  contamination  free  aquifers  and  also  providing technical assistance to state departments in construction of Fluoride safe wells.
-  Government of India, in partnership  with  States,  is  implementing  Jal  Jeevan  Mission  (JJM)  since August, 2019 to provide potable tap water supply of prescribed quality and on regular &long term basis to every rural household in the country. Under JJM, while planning water supply schemes to provide  tap  water  supply  to  house-holds,  priority  is  given  to  quality-affected  habitations.  While allocating  the  funds  to  States/  UTs  in  a  particular  financial  year,  10%  weightage  is  given  to  the population residing in habitations affected by chemical contaminants.
-  CPCB has made a comprehensive programme on water pollution for controlling point sources the main  components  of  which  are  developing  industry  specific  standards  and  general  standards  for discharge  of  effluents  notified  under  the  Environment  (Protection)  Act,  1986  by  Ministry  of Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change,  Govt.  of  India  to  be  enforced  by  the  SPCBs  /  PCCs through  consent  mechanism;  Establishment  of  Common  Effluent  Treatment  Plants  (CETPs)  for cluster  of  Small  Scale  Industries;  Installation  of  Online  Continuous  Effluent  Monitoring  Systems (OCEMS) by Grossly Polluting Industries for getting real time information on the effluent quality etc.
-  Awareness generation programs/ workshop on various aspects of ground water including preventing ground  water  pollution  and  safe  use  of  contaminated  water  are  being  conducted  by  CGWB periodically.
-  Since  ground  water  is  the  predominant  source  used  for  drinking  and  since  its  quality  is  found  to deteriorate when drawn from greater depths, Ministry of Jal Shakti and other central ministries are implementing several programmes for recharging ground water and water conservation which are expected to improve the underground water table, thus improving the quality of ground water. Some of such programmes are Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Amrut Sarovar Mission, MNREGS, PMKSY-WDC etc.

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ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1551 TO BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  13.02.2025  REGARDING  'ACUTE  CONTAMINATION  IN GROUNDWATER OF WEST BENGAL, BIHAR AND UTTAR PRADESH'.

State-wise occurrences of EC, nitrate and Fluoride beyond the prescribed limits for year 2023

| State         |   No. of Samples Analysed |   % samples having EC > 3000 µS/cm |   % samples having Fluoride > 1.5 mg/L |   % samples having Nitrate > 45 mg/L |
|---------------|---------------------------|------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Bihar         |                       808 |                                0.9 |                                   4.58 |                                 2.35 |
| Uttar Pradesh |                      1387 |                                2.7 |                                   5.7  |                                 9.37 |
| West Bengal   |                       959 |                                0.8 |                                   0.73 |                                 8.65 |

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1551 TO BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  13.02.2025  REGARDING  'ACUTE  CONTAMINATION  IN GROUNDWATER OF WEST BENGAL, BIHAR AND UTTAR PRADESH'.

Year-wise  details  of  numbers  of  partially  districts  affected  by  various  ground  water quality parameters

|   *Year |   Partially Affected Districts by EC |   Partially Affected Districts by Fluoride |   Partially Affected Districts by Nitrate |
|---------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|    2017 |                                  198 |                                        207 |                                       359 |
|    2018 |                                  198 |                                        212 |                                       323 |
|    2019 |                                  172 |                                        226 |                                       352 |
|    2020 |                                   90 |                                        131 |                                       223 |
|    2021 |                                  119 |                                        142 |                                       257 |
|    2022 |                                  184 |                                        213 |                                       419 |
|    2023 |                                  218 |                                        263 |                                       443 |

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