Lok Sabha Question No. 65 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-02
Subject: Health Hazards due to Water Contaminants
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Manoj Rajoria, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Ranjeeta Koli

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †65

## ANSWERED ON 02.02.2023

## HEALTH HAZARDS DUE TO WATER CONTAMINANTS

## †65. DR. MANOJ RAJORIA: SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI: SHRIMATI RANJEETA KOLI:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of people exposed to health hazards due to presence of excess arsenic, fluoride, iron, salinity and  nitrate contents etc. in ground water in Rajasthan, district-wise;
- (b) whether any steps have been taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any scheme is being formulated by the Government to improve the water storage infrastructure to raise the ground water level in Rajasthan; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a)  &  (b)  'Water' being a state subject, planning, approval and implementation of drinking water  supply  schemes,  lies  with  state/UT  governments.  Water  Supply/  Water  &  Sanitation/ Public  Health  Engineering  Departments  and/or  parastatal  organization  of  respective  State Government/ UT Administration, are responsible for making provision of water supply and ensuring quality of water supplied in their respective State/UT.

Government of India is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) - Har Ghar Jal, since August, 2019, in partnership with States, to make provision of potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on regular & long-term basis to every rural household, by 2024. Under JJM, while allocating the funds to States/ UTs, 10% weightage is given to the population residing in habitations affected by chemical contaminants.

Under  JJM,  while  planning  for  potable  water  supply  to  household  through  tap  water connection, priority is to be given to quality-affected habitations. Since, planning, implementation  and  commissioning  of  piped  water  supply  scheme  based  on  a  safe  water source may take time, purely as an interim measure, States/ UTs have been advised to install community  water  purification  plants  (CWPPs)  especially  in  Arsenic  and  Fluoride  affected habitations to provide potable water to every household at the rate of 8-10 litre per capita per day (lpcd) to meet their drinking and cooking requirements.

As  reported  by  the  Rajasthan  State,  as  on  31.01.2023,  the  district-wise  detail  of  quality affected habitations is Annexed .

Under Jal Jeevan Mission, as per existing guidelines, Bureau of Indian Standards' IS:10500 standard  is  to  be  adopted  for  ensuring  safe  drinking  water  supply.  States/UTs  have  been advised  to  undertake  testing  of  water  quality  on  a  periodic  basis  and  take  remedial  action wherever necessary, to ensure that the water supplied to households is of prescribed quality.

To  enable  States/  UTs  to  test  water  samples  for  water  quality,  and  for  sample  collection, reporting,  monitoring  and  surveillance  of  drinking  water  sources,  an  online  JJM  -  Water Quality Management Information System (WQMIS) portal has been developed. As reported by  States/UTs  on  WQMIS,  as  on  31.01.  2023,  about  42.85  lakh  water  samples  have  been tested in the water testing laboratories and 77.29 lakh water samples using Field Testing Kits, during  2022-23.  The  State-wise  details  of  water  quality  test  reported  through  WQMIS  are available in public domain on JJM Dashboard and can also be accessed at:

## https://ejalshakti.gov.in/WQMIS/Main/report

To encourage water quality testing to ensure potable drinking water supply, States/ UTs have opened water quality testing laboratories to general public for testing of their water samples at a nominal rate.

States/ UTs have been advised to identify and train 5 persons preferably women from every village  to  conduct  water  quality  tests  using  FTKs/  bacteriological  vials  at  village  level  and report the same on the WQMIS portal. So far, about 18.06 lakh women have been trained.

The details regarding persons having health hazard due to contaminated drinking water is not maintained centrally.

(c)  &  (d)  Regarding  improvement  in  water  storage  infrastructure  to  raise  the  ground  water level,  Amrit  Sarovar  Mission  has  been  launched  on  24th  April  2022,  which  aimed  at developing  and  rejuvenating  75  water  bodies  in  each  district  of  the  country  as  a  part  of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Atal  Bhujal  Yojana  (ABHY),  a  Rs.6,000  crore  scheme  with  World  Bank  funding,  for sustainable management of ground water with community participation is being taken up in the identified over-exploited and water stressed areas in Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

During 2021-22, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has taken up Artificial recharge projects  in  select  water  stressed  areas  in  parts  of  Jodhpur,  Jaisalmer  &  Sikar  Districts  in Rajasthan.  The  estimated  cost  of  structures  for  Rajasthan  is  Rs  96.04  Cr,  in  which  earthen dams, Check Dams, Anicuts, Recharge Shafts with Ponds are considered.

Also, in 2019, Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) was conducted to bring awareness on various aspects of water conservation and promote rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge in 256 water stressed districts and was expanded to the whole country in 2021. 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain' (JSA: CTR) - 2022 campaign, the third in the series of JSAs, has been launched on 29.3.2022 to cover all the blocks of all districts across the country including all districts of Rajasthan. As per the information available on the JSA: CTR portal, 1.21 lakh water related works,  which  includes  water  conservation  and  rainwater  harvesting,  renovation  of  tradition water  bodies,  reuse  and  recharge  structures  and  watershed  development,  are  completed/ ongoing  in  the  State  in  Rajasthan  under  JSA:CTR  2022,  during  the  period  29.03.2022  to 30.11.2022.

*****

## Annex referred to in the reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. †65 to be answered on 02.02.2023

## District-wise number of water quality-affected habitations in Rajasthan (As on 31.01.2023)

| S. No   | District       | Number of quality-affected habitations   | Number of quality-affected habitations   | Number of quality-affected habitations   | Number of quality-affected habitations   | Number of quality-affected habitations   | Number of quality-affected habitations   |
|---------|----------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| S. No   | District       | Fluoride-affected                        | Fluoride-affected                        | Arsenic- affected                        | Iron- affected                           | Salinity- affected                       | Nitrate- affected                        |
| S. No   | District       | No.                                      | Covered with CWPP                        | Arsenic- affected                        | Iron- affected                           | Salinity- affected                       | Nitrate- affected                        |
| 1.      | Alwar          | 65                                       | 65                                       | -                                        | -                                        | 30                                       | 1                                        |
| 2.      | Banswara       | 11                                       | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 1                                        | 5                                        |
| 3.      | Baran          | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 2                                        | 1                                        |
| 4.      | Barmer         | 9                                        | 9                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 8,558                                    | 4                                        |
| 5.      | Bharatpur      | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 431                                      | 6                                        |
| 6.      | Bhilwara       | 1                                        | 1                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 7                                        | 9                                        |
| 7.      | Bikaner        | 1                                        | 1                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 14                                       | 84                                       |
| 8.      | Bundi          | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 37                                       | 22                                       |
| 9.      | Chittaurgarh   | 1                                        | 1                                        | -                                        | 1                                        | 36                                       | 34                                       |
| 10.     | Dausa          | 14                                       | 10                                       | -                                        | -                                        | 6                                        | 18                                       |
| 11.     | Dhaulpur       | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 1                                        | -                                        |
| 12.     | Dungarpur      | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 1                                        | 17                                       |
| 13.     | Hanumangarh    | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 3                                        | -                                        |
| 14.     | Jaipur         | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 16                                       | 3                                        |
| 15.     | Jaisalmer      | 28                                       | 28                                       | -                                        | 1                                        | 2                                        | 15                                       |
| 16.     | Jhunjhunun     | 4                                        | 4                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 4                                        | 4                                        |
| 17.     | Jodhpur        | 22                                       | 22                                       | -                                        | -                                        | 504                                      | 55                                       |
| 18.     | Karauli        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 19                                       | 7                                        |
| 19.     | Kota           | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 2                                        | 16                                       | 9                                        |
| 20.     | Nagaur         | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 2                                        | 8                                        |
| 21.     | Pali           | 13                                       | 9                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 4                                        | 23                                       |
| 22.     | Pratapgarh     | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 1                                        | 103                                      |
| 23.     | Rajsamand      | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 2                                        | 10                                       |
| 24.     | Sawai Madhopur | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 9                                        | 3                                        |
| 25.     | Sikar          | 2                                        | 2                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 7                                        | 9                                        |
| 26.     | Udaipur        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | -                                        | 39                                       | 13                                       |

Source: JJM-IMIS