Lok Sabha Question No. 1528 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-13
Subject: Chemical Contamination in Groundwater
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Sribharat Mathukumilli

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1528

## ANSWERED ON 13.02.2025

## CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER

## 1528. SHRI SRIBHARAT MATHUKUMILLI:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  the  details  of  groundwater  samples  analyzed  for  chemical  contamination  across  various  districts  in  the country, including data on the levels of nitrate, fluoride and uranium contamination;

(b)  whether  any  excessive  or  unsafe  levels  of  groundwater  chemical  contamination  have  been  reported  in central and southern States and if so, the details thereof, State-wise along with the district-wise information for Andhra Pradesh;

(c)  the  details  of  assessments  conducted  on  the  potential  risks  of  such  contamination  on  public  health  and associated environmental toxicity; and

(d) whether the Government has undertaken any safeguard measures to address unsafe levels of aforementioned chemicals in groundwater, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) The Annual Groundwater Quality Report 2024 prepared by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is based on the ground water sampling and analysis from 15,259 monitoring locations spread across the country. The major objective of the report is to study various water quality parameters like Electrical Conductivity(EC), Fluoride,  Arsenic,  heavy  metals,  Nitrate,  Uranium  etc.  in  groundwater  used  for  drinking  and  agriculture purposes. The report has found the presence of above contaminants beyond the prescribed limits for human consumption in certain isolated pockets of some States/UTs. The summary on the levels of nitrate, Fluoride and Uranium is presented in Annexure -I .

(b) As is the case with rest of the country, certain ground water contaminants beyond permissible limits have been  reported  in  isolated  pockets  of  central  and  southern  states  as  well.  State-wise  contaminants  detail  is provided in Annexure -II . Further, District-wise contaminants detail for State of Andhra Pradesh is provided in Annexure -III .

(c) Use  of  Ground  Water  for  drinking  purpose  having  Arsenic,  Fluoride,  heavy  metals  etc.  above  the permissible limits over a prolonged period of time is known to cause several adverse health effects. As per the information  provided  by  M/o  Health  &  Family  Welfare,  Arsenic  exposure  can  cause  skin  lesions,  cancer, cardiovascular diseases and developmental effects in children. Likewise, excessive fluoride in the ground water

can  result  in  dental  and  skeletal  Fluorosis.  Similarly,  various  other  contaminants  are  known  to  produce different kinds of adverse effects.

(d) Water  being  a  State  subject,  sustainable  development  and  management  of  groundwater  resources, including  the  quality  aspect  is  primarily  the  responsibility  of  the  State  Governments.  However,  the  Central Government facilitates the efforts of the State Governments through technical and financial assistance through its various schemes and projects. In this direction, the important steps taken by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and other central ministries 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.

***

## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1528 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 13.02.2025 REGARDING 'CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER'.

## The summary on the levels of nitrate, Fluoride and Uranium

| Parameters   |   No. of collected |   samples No. of districts partially Affected | % of samples exceeding Permissible limits   |
|--------------|--------------------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| Nitrate      |              15259 |                                           443 | 19.8%                                       |
| Fluoride     |              15259 |                                           263 | 9.04%                                       |
| Uranium      |              11445 |                                           132 | 6.6%                                        |

## ANNEXURE-II

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1528 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 13.02.2025 REGARDING 'CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER'.

## Details of Contaminants exceeding permissible limits for Central and Southern States of India

| State          |   No. of samples analysed |   % of samples with EC more than permissible Limits (> 3000 µS/cm) |   %of samples with Fluoride more than permissible Limits (>1.5 mg/L) |   % of samples with Nitrate more than permissible Limits (> 45 mg/L) |
|----------------|---------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh |                      1149 |                                                                9.7 |                                                                11.31 |                                                                23.5  |
| Chhattisgarh   |                       783 |                                                                0.3 |                                                                 1.79 |                                                                11.49 |
| Karnataka      |                       345 |                                                               14.5 |                                                                17.68 |                                                                48.99 |
| Kerala         |                       342 |                                                                0   |                                                                 0.29 |                                                                 6.73 |
| Madhya Pradesh |                       589 |                                                                1.2 |                                                                 1.02 |                                                                22.58 |
| Maharashtra    |                      1567 |                                                                3.6 |                                                                 1.91 |                                                                35.74 |
| Tamil Nadu     |                       916 |                                                                9.2 |                                                                 9.72 |                                                                37.77 |
| Telangana      |                      1150 |                                                                3   |                                                                14.87 |                                                                27.48 |

## ANNEXURE-III

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1528 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 13.02.2025 REGARDING 'CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER'.

District-wise Detail of contaminants exceeding Permissible limit for Andhra Pradesh

| Sr. No   | Districts             |   No. of Samples analyzed |   % of samples with EC more permissible Limits (> 3000 µS/cm) |   than %of samples Fluoride more permissible (>1.5 mg/L) |   with than Limits % of with more permissible Limits (> 45 | samples Nitrate than mg/L)   |
|----------|-----------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 1        | Alluri Sita Rama Raju |                        40 |                                                           0   |                                                      5   |                                                       17.5 |                              |
| 2        | Anakapalli            |                        27 |                                                           3.7 |                                                     11.1 |                                                       44.4 |                              |
| 3        | Ananthapur            |                        62 |                                                           4.8 |                                                     19.4 |                                                       19.4 |                              |
| 4        | Annamayya             |                        73 |                                                           5.5 |                                                      5.5 |                                                       12.3 |                              |
| 5        | Bapatla               |                        33 |                                                          24.2 |                                                      3   |                                                        6.1 |                              |
| 6        | Chittoor              |                        61 |                                                           1.6 |                                                      1.6 |                                                       11.5 |                              |
| 7        | East Godavari         |                        25 |                                                           4   |                                                     12   |                                                       16   |                              |
| 8        | Eluru                 |                        37 |                                                          29.7 |                                                      0   |                                                       13.5 |                              |
| 9        | Guntur                |                        32 |                                                          18.8 |                                                      0   |                                                       21.9 |                              |
| 10       | Kakinada              |                        23 |                                                           8.7 |                                                      0   |                                                       21.7 |                              |
| 11       | Konaseema             |                        31 |                                                           3.2 |                                                      0   |                                                        6.5 |                              |
| 12       | Krishna               |                        56 |                                                          30.4 |                                                      0   |                                                        5.4 |                              |
| 13       | Kurnool               |                        28 |                                                          28.6 |                                                     10.7 |                                                       50   |                              |
| 14       | Nandyal               |                        25 |                                                           0   |                                                      4   |                                                       12   |                              |
| 15       | NTR                   |                        27 |                                                           7.4 |                                                     14.8 |                                                       40.7 |                              |
| 16       | Palnadu               |                        70 |                                                          22.9 |                                                     27.1 |                                                       51.4 |                              |
| 17       | Parvathipuram Manyam  |                        24 |                                                           4.2 |                                                      0   |                                                       20.8 |                              |
| 18       | Prakasham             |                       102 |                                                          11.8 |                                                     24.5 |                                                       42.2 |                              |
| 19       | SPS Nellore           |                        51 |                                                           5.9 |                                                     21.6 |                                                       29.4 |                              |
| 20       | Sri Satya Sai         |                        85 |                                                           4.7 |                                                     31.8 |                                                       34.1 |                              |
| 21       | Srikakulam            |                        49 |                                                           4.1 |                                                      2   |                                                       22.4 |                              |
| 22       | Tirupathi             |                        30 |                                                           6.7 |                                                      6.7 |                                                        6.7 |                              |
| 23       | Visakhapatnam         |                        20 |                                                           0   |                                                      0   |                                                       10   |                              |
| 24       | Vizianagaram          |                        45 |                                                           2.2 |                                                      0   |                                                       22.2 |                              |
| 25       | West Godavari         |                        26 |                                                           7.7 |                                                      0   |                                                       15.4 |                              |
| 26       | YSR Kadapa            |                        67 |                                                           6   |                                                     16.4 |                                                       14.9 |                              |
| Andhra   | Pradesh               |                      1149 |                                                           9.7 |                                                     11.3 |                                                       23.5 |                              |

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