Lok Sabha Question No. 50 (STARRED), answered on 2025-02-06
Subject: Implementation of Jal Shakti Abhiyan in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Tharaniventhan M S

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *50

ANSWERED ON 06.02.2025

## IMPLEMENTATION OF JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN IN TAMIL NADU

| *50.                                                 | SHRITHARANIVENTHANMS                                 |
|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: | Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: |

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. *50 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.02.2025 IN LOK SABHA REGARDING 'IMPLEMENTATION OF JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN IN TAMIL NADU'

(a)  &  (b) Water  is  a  State  subject  and  the  Central  Government  supplements  the  efforts  of  the  States/UTs through technical and  financial support. The Jal Shakti Abhiyan, with the tagline "Catch the Rain, Where  It Falls, When It Falls," is an annual campaign focused on water conservation and recharge, including rainwater harvesting. It leverages convergent financing and emphasizes active community participation. The initiative is implemented nationwide from March to November each year.

Focused interventions of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA: CTR) campaign include (1) water  conservation  and  rainwater  harvesting,  (2)  enumerating,  geo-tagging  &  making  inventory  of  all  water bodies; preparation of District Water Conservation Plans, (3) Setting up of Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts, (4) intensive afforestation and (5) awareness generation. The details of these focused interventions are at Annexure I . The Ministry implements various programmes/schemes from time to time for awareness generation.

(c) Funds spent under the JSA: CTR Campaign is through convergent financing from various schemes of the Central,   State  and  local  bodies  like  the   Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme (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 etc.

As reported by the Government of Tamil Nadu, during the last three years (2022-2025), funds of Rs 15792.24 crore have been utilised under Jal Shakti Abhiyan within the State consisting of Rs 9331.49 crore for Water Conservation & Rainwater Harvesting, Rs 1461.51 crore for Renovation of Traditional Water Bodies, Rs 85.88 crore for Reuse and Recharge structures, Rs 4202.95 crore for Watershed Development activities and Rs 710.38 crore for Intensive Afforestation.

Apart from above, financial assistance of Rs. 2.00 lakh has been released under the Abhiyan to each district  for  Geographic  Information  System  (GIS)  mapping  of  water  bodies  and  preparation  of  district  water conservation plans under JSA: CTR. An amount of Rs 34 lakh has been released in 2021-22, Rs 31 lakh in 2022-23 and Rs 1.00 lakh in 2023-24 to the State of Tamil Nadu.

(d) 42 focus districts from Tamil Nadu were identified under the Abhiyan in 2019, 2023 and 2024, as detailed in Annexure II .

(e) Ground  water  depletion  is  dependent  on  a  number  of  factors  like  over  extraction,  deforestation,  soil conditions, topography etc. Various policies and schemes of the Central, State, Local Bodies such Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain, Atal Bhujal Yojana, National Aquifer Mapping programme (NAQUIM), Master Plan for  Artificial  Recharge  to  Groundwater  in  India,  Mission  Amrit  Sarovar,  District  Water  Body  Atlas,  Water Bodies  Census  etc  are  designed  to  implement  measures  to  arrest  ground  water  depletion.  The  Jal  Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA: CTR) campaign also promotes water conservation through many interventions

which  include  rain  water  harvesting;  renovation  of  traditional  water  bodies;  reuse  and  recharge  structures; watershed development etc to help in ground water recharge and to enhance storage capacities as well. As per CGWB's National Compilation on Ground Water Resources Assessment 2024, in Tamil Nadu, over-exploited assessment units have decreased from 39.6% to 33.87% , critical assessment units have decreased from 6.77% to  6.4%,  semi-critical  units  have  increased  from  13.97%  to  17.6%  whereas   safe  units  have  increased  from 36.62% to 40.3% as compared from 2017. The increase in percentage of semi-critical units is an indicator of shifting of units from critical to semi-critical category. Groundwater recharge through the Tank and Pond Water Conservation System (WCS) has exhibited an improvement over the years. In 2017, the recharge volume was 2.37  billion  cubic  meters,  which  increased  significantly  to  2.70  billion  cubic  meters  in  2024.  This  overall growth  reflects  the  effectiveness  of  water  conservation  initiatives  and  the  role  of  tanks,  ponds  &  water conservation structures in sustaining groundwater levels.

(f) There are no defined targets under this campaign and the State Governments are encouraged to undertake as many works as possible aimed at water conservation. As per the information available on JSA: CTR portal (jsactr.mowr.gov.in), till 31.01.2025, more than 1.66 crore water-related works have been taken up across the country under the JSA: CTR campaign. The Government of Tamil Nadu has reported that overall 18.80 lakh works have been undertaken in the state under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan over the past three years, focusing on the five  key  intervention areas. Further, 705 Jal Shakti Kendras (JSKs) have also been set up across the country and JSKs are established in all the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu. Under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA: CTR), district water conservation plans have been prepared by 619 districts across the country. All 38 districts in Tamil Nadu have also prepared their water conservation plans.

***

## ANNEXURE I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  &  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO. *50 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.02.2025 REGARDING 'IMPLEMENTATION OF JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN IN TAMIL NADU'

| S.No.                                            | Year                                             | *Water Conservation and Rain Water Harvesting   | *Renovation of Traditional Water Bodies   | *Reuse and Recharge Structures   | *Watershed Development   | Total water related works   | Intensive Afforestation   | Expenditure - Including Water related works and Afforestation ( In Rs Crores)*   |
|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1                                                | 2019                                             | 273,256                                         | 44,497                                    | 142,740                          | 159,354                  | 619,847                     | 12,35,99,566              | NA                                                                               |
| 2                                                | 2021                                             | 1,627,677                                       | 297,666                                   | 832,596                          | 1,918,913                | 4,676,852                   | 36,76,60,580              | 65,666                                                                           |
| 3                                                | 2022                                             | 1,228,553                                       | 267,472                                   | 874,680                          | 1,628,726                | 3,999,431                   | 78,38,36,035              | 23,863                                                                           |
| 4                                                | 2023                                             | 1,240,827                                       | 283,627                                   | 679,863                          | 1,483,539                | 3,687,856                   | 5,50,26,292               | 18,915                                                                           |
| 5                                                | 2024                                             | 1,135,280                                       | 276,923                                   | 446,917                          | 1,788,735                | 3,647,855                   | 6,32,64,896               | 8,137                                                                            |
| Total                                            | Total                                            | 5,505,593                                       | 1,170,185                                 | 2,976,796                        | 6,979,267                | 1,66,31,841                 | 139,33,87,369             | 116,581                                                                          |
| Grand Total                                      | Grand Total                                      | 1,66,31,841                                     | 1,66,31,841                               | 1,66,31,841                      | 1,66,31,841              |                             |                           |                                                                                  |
| Total Jal Shakti Kendras established             | Total Jal Shakti Kendras established             | 705                                             | 705                                       | 705                              | 705                      |                             |                           |                                                                                  |
| Total District Water Conservation Plans prepared | Total District Water Conservation Plans prepared | 619                                             | 619                                       | 619                              | 619                      |                             |                           |                                                                                  |

## ANNEXURE II

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *50  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  06.02.2025  REGARDING  'IMPLEMENTATION  OF  JAL  SHAKTI ABHIYAN IN TAMIL NADU'

Details of focus districts of Tamil Nadu under Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain - 2024

|   S No |   JSA: CTR Year | Name of Focus Districts in Tamil Nadu   |
|--------|-----------------|-----------------------------------------|
|      1 |            2024 | Coimbatore                              |
|      2 |            2024 | Vellore                                 |
|      3 |            2024 | Tirupathur                              |
|      4 |            2024 | Mayiladuthurai                          |
|      5 |            2024 | Salem                                   |
|      6 |            2024 | Chennai                                 |
|      7 |            2024 | Namakkal                                |
|      8 |            2024 | Dindigul                                |
|      9 |            2024 | Perambalur                              |
|     10 |            2024 | Thanjavur                               |
|     11 |            2023 | Ramanathapuram                          |
|     12 |            2023 | Virudhunagar                            |
|     13 |            2023 | Pudukottai                              |
|     14 |            2023 | Dharmapuri                              |
|     15 |            2023 | Cuddalore                               |
|     16 |            2019 | Chennai                                 |
|     17 |            2019 | Coimbatore                              |
|     18 |            2019 | Cuddalore                               |
|     19 |            2019 | Dharmapuri                              |
|     20 |            2019 | Dindigul                                |
|     21 |            2019 | Erode                                   |
|     22 |            2019 | Kanchipuram                             |
|     23 |            2019 | Karur                                   |
|     24 |            2019 | Krishnagiri                             |
|     25 |            2019 | Madurai                                 |
|     26 |            2019 | Nagapattinam                            |
|     27 |            2019 | Namakkal                                |
|     28 |            2019 | Perambalur                              |
|     29 |            2019 | Pudukkottai                             |
|     30 |            2019 | Salem                                   |
|     31 |            2019 | Thanjavur                               |
|     32 |            2019 | Theni                                   |
|     33 |            2019 | Thoothukudi                             |
|     34 |            2019 | Tiruchirappalli                         |
|     35 |            2019 | Tirunelveli                             |
|     36 |            2019 | Tiruppur                                |
|     37 |            2019 | Tiruvallur                              |
|     38 |            2019 | Tiruvannamalai                          |
|     39 |            2019 | Tiruvaur                                |
|     40 |            2019 | Vellore                                 |
|     41 |            2019 | Villupuram                              |
|     42 |            2019 | Virudhunagar                            |