Lok Sabha Question No. 2814 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-08
Subject: River Water for Drinking
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Shyamkumar Daulat Barve

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2814 ANSWERED ON -08/08/2024

## RIVER WATER FOR DRINKING

## †2814.  SHRI SHYAMKUMAR DAULAT BARVE:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to State:

(a)  whether water from twenty rivers in Ramtek Lok Sabha Constituency was regarded fit for drinking and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Government declared the water from all other rivers fit for drinking by issuing a notification in the year 2016 which many laboratories found it in their trials that water of the said rivers is polluted by more than 30 percent;

(c)  if  so,  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  conserve  the  water  of  these  rivers  from  being polluted;

(d)  whether the water supply in Ramtek Lok Sabha Constituency is made through river water supply  scheme  intake  well  which  does  not  have  a  filteration  plant  because  of  which  water  is supplied without purification;

(e) if so, the steps taken by the Government in this regard;

(f) whether the Government proposes any scheme for building a sewage treatment plant/sewage water filteration plant in Nagpur urban area so as to save the water of the rivers of Nagpur rural from being polluted; and

(g) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e) Government of India is committed to make provision for safe & potable tap water supply in  adequate  quantity,  of  prescribed  quality  and  on  a  regular  &  long-term  basis  to  all  rural households in the country. Towards this end, the Government of India launched the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), to be implemented in partnership with States in August 2019. Drinking water is a State subject, and hence, the responsibility of planning, approval, implementation, operation, and maintenance of drinking water supply schemes, including those under the Jal Jeevan Mission, lies

with State/UT Governments. The Government of India supports the States by providing technical and financial assistance.

As such, details of pollution of rivers, inter alia including filtration plants on rivers etc. are not maintained by this Department.

The  water  sources  which inter  alia include  groundwater  (open  well,  borewell,  tube  well, handpumps, etc.), surface water (river, reservoir, lake, pond, springs, etc.) and rain water stored in small tanks are being used as sources for drinking water supply schemes. Under JJM, provisions have been made for development/ strengthening/ augmentation of drinking water sources; and infrastructure  for  bulk  transfer  of  water,  treatment  and  distribution  systems  in  water  deficit drought-prone and desert areas without dependable ground water sources apart from creation of in-village water supply infrastructure.

In  addition,  provisions  for  taking  up  augmentation  and  strengthening  of  local  drinking  water sources  in  convergence  with  other  schemes  at  village  level  viz.  MGNREGS,  15 th Finance Commission tied grants to RLBs/ PRIs, Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), State schemes, District Mineral Development Fund, CSR funds, community contribution, etc. is also envisaged under the JJM.

(f) & (g) It is the primary responsibility of States/ Union Territories (UTs), urban local bodies, industrial units to ensure required treatment of sewage and industrial effluent before discharging into rivers and other recipient water bodies, land or coastal waters for prevention and control of pollution therein.

As informed by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India has been supplementing efforts of the States/Union Territories (UTs) by providing financial and technical assistance for abatement of pollution in the identified stretches of rivers in the country through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) for other rivers.

NRCP has so far  covered  53  rivers  in  98  towns  spread  over  17  States  in  the  country  with  a sanctioned cost of Rs.8649.67 crore and inter-alia , a sewage treatment capacity of 2910.50 million litres per day (MLD) has been created.  Projects for pollution abatement of river Nag at Nagpur in Maharashtra is sanctioned at a cost of Rs.1926.99 crore for creation of total sewage treatment capacity of 102 MLD and laying of sewer network of 520 km.

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