Lok Sabha Question No. 67 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-20
Subject: Depleting Ground Water Level
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Malook Nagar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 67

ANSWERED ON 20.07.2023

## DEPLETING GROUND WATER LEVEL

## †67. SHRI MALOOK NAGAR

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is concerned about the depleting ground water level in the country;

(b) if so, the steps taken to ensure rain water harvesting to optimum levels in the country;

(c) the status of river inter-linking projects in the country; and

(d) whether some State Governments have objected to the river linking projects and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

( SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU )

(a)  &  (b) Groundwater  levels  in  certain  parts  of  the  country  are  declining  because  of  continuous withdrawal due to reasons such as increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization and urbanisation.

To  have  information  on  groundwater  situation  for  timely  interventions,  Central  Ground  Water Board (CGWB) is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the country on a regional scale,  through  a  network  of  monitoring  wells.  In  order  to  assess  the  long-term  fluctuation  in  ground water levels, the water level data collected by CGWB during November 2022 has been compared with the decadal mean of November (2012-2021). Analysis of water level data indicates that about 61.1% of the wells monitored have registered rise in ground water level.

Further,  Water  being  State  subject,  the  efforts  to  effectively  harvest  the  rain  water  including sustainable groundwater management fall under States' mandate, however, a number of steps has been taken by Central Government in this regard which can be seen at https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s3a70dc40477bc2adceef4d2c90f47eb82/uploads/2023/02/2023021742.pd f  .However, some of them are listed as under.

Government of  India is  implementing  Jal  Shakti  Abhiyan  (JSA)  in  the  country  in  which  special emphasis is being given for rainwater harvesting/groundwater recharge. First JSA was launched in 2019 in water stressed blocks of 256 districts which continued during the years 2021, 2022 also (across entire country  both  rural  and  urban  areas)  with  the  primary  aim  to  effectively  harvest  the  monsoon  rainfall through creation of artificial recharge structures, watershed management, recharge and reuse structures, intensive  afforestation  and  awareness  generation  etc.  JSA  for  the  year  2023  have  been  launched  by Hon'ble  President  of  India  on  04  March  2023 with  the  theme  'Source  Sustainability  for  Drinking Water'.

Hon'ble Prime Minister has launched Amrit Sarovar Mission on 24 th April  2022.  The Mission is aimed  at  developing  and  rejuvenating  75  water  bodies  in  each  district  of  the  country  as  a  part  of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav for rainwater harvesting/recharge.

Ministry  of  Housing  &  Urban  Affairs  (MoHUA)  has  formulated  Model  Building  Bye  Laws (MBBL), 2016 for the States/UTs. As per MBBL, all buildings having a plot size of 100 Sq.m. or, more shall mandatorily include the complete proposal of rainwater harvesting. 35 States/ UTs have adopted the features of the Bye Laws.

In  addition,  Several  States  have  done  notable  work  in  the  field  of  water  conservation/rainwater harvesting  such  as  'Mukhyamantri  Jal  Swavlamban  Abhiyan'  in  Rajasthan,  'Jalyukt  Shibar'  in Maharashtra, 'Sujalam Sufalam Abhiyan' in Gujarat, 'Mission Kakatiya' in Telangana, 'Neeru Chettu' in  Andhra  Pradesh,  'Jal  Jeevan  Hariyali'  in  Bihar,  'Jal  Hi  Jeevan'  in  Haryana,  'Pani  Bachao  Paise Kamao' scheme in Punjab and 'Kudimaramath' scheme in Tamil Nadu etc.

(c) Government of India is actively working on 'Interlinking of Rivers' (ILR) program as one of the interventions  for  sustainable  management  of  water  resources  in  the  country.  Under  the  National Perspective Plan (NPP) for water transfer from water surplus to water deficit basins, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has identified 30 links (16 under Peninsular component and 14 under Himalayan component). The details of river linking projects and present status are given at Annexure .

Further, the Ken- Betwa Link project (KBLP) is the first link under NPP approved by the Central Government in December 2021 with an estimated cost of Rs 44,605.00 Cr with Central support of Rs 39,317.00 Cr. The project is planned to be completed in a period of 8 years.

(d) The cooperation of States is paramount in the implementation of ILR projects and thus all efforts are being made by this Department to address the apprehensions/disagreement for water sharing with States so that the these projects are taken to the stage of implementation.

Implementation of Ken-Betwa link project has started because of active consultation/pursuation and its benefits are likely to motivate concerned States to give their consent in implementing other ILR projects.

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 67 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.07.2023 REGARDING 'DEPLETING GROUND WATER LEVEL'.

## STATUS OF INTER BASIN WATER TRANSFER LINK SCHEMES UNDER

## Peninsular Component

|   Sl. No | Name                                                                       | States benefited                          | Status                  |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------|
|        1 | a. Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link                    | AP &Odisha                                | FR completed            |
|        1 | b. Alternate Mahanadi (Barmul) - Rushikulya - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link | AP& Odisha                                | FR completed            |
|        2 | Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link                           | AP                                        | FR completed            |
|        3 | a. Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link                  | Telangana                                 | FR completed            |
|        3 | b. Alternate Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link *      | Telangana                                 | DPR completed           |
|        4 | Godavari (Inchampalli/ SSMPP) - Krishna (Pulichintala) link                | Telangana &AP                             | DPR completed           |
|        5 | a. Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link                      | AP                                        | FR completed            |
|        5 | b. Alternate Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link *          | AP                                        | DPR completed           |
|        6 | Krishna (Srisailam) - Pennar link                                          | AP                                        | Draft DPR completed     |
|        7 | Krishna (Almatti) - Pennar link                                            | AP &Karnataka                             | Draft DPR completed     |
|        8 | a. Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link                         | AP, Tamil Nadu& Puducherry                | FR completed            |
|        8 | b. Alternate Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link *             | AP, Tamil Nadu& Puducherry                | DPR completed           |
|        9 | Cauvery (Kattalai) - Vaigai -Gundar link                                   | Tamil Nadu                                | DPR completed           |
|       10 | a. Parbati -Kalisindh - Chambal link                                       | MP &Rajasthan                             | FR completed            |
|       10 | b. Modified Parbati - Kalisindh-Chambal link ( duly integrated with ERCP)  | MP &Rajasthan                             | PFR completed (Phase-I) |
|       11 | Damanganga - Pinjal link (As per DPR )                                     | Maharashtra (only water supply to Mumbai) | DPR completed           |
|       12 | Par-Tapi-Narmada link (As per DPR)                                         | Gujarat                                   | DPR completed           |

|   13 | Ken-Betwa link                    | Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh   | DPR completed& implementation initiated.   |
|------|-----------------------------------|----------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
|   14 | Pamba - Achankovil - Vaippar link | Tamil Nadu and Kerala            | FR completed                               |
|   15 | Bedti - Varda link                | Karnataka                        | DPR completed                              |
|   16 | Netravati - Hemavati link **      | Karnataka                        | PFR completed                              |

PFR - Pre Feasibility Report, FR - Feasibility Report, DPR - Detailed Project Report

*   Due  to  pending  consensus  on  Manibhadra  and  Inchampalli  dams,  Alternate  study  to  divert unutilized waters of Godavari river was carried out and DPR of Godavari (Inchampalli/ Janampet) Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila) -  Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link projects  completed. Godavari-Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link project has been prepared comprising of Godavari (Inchampalli / Janampet) - Krishna  (Nagarjunasagar), Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)- Pennar (Somasila) and Pennar(Somasila)-Cauvery(Grand Anicut) link projects.
- ** Further studies  are  not  taken  up  since  after  implementation  of  Yettinahole  project  by  Govt.  of Karnataka, no surplus water is available in Netravati basin for diversion through this link.

## Himalayan Component

PFR - Pre Feasibility Report, FR - Feasibility Report, DPR - Detailed Project Report

|   Sl. | No.Name of the Link                                   | Country/ States benefited   | Status                                        |
|-------|-------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|     1 | Kosi-Mechi link                                       | Bihar &Nepal                | PFR completed                                 |
|     2 | Kosi-Ghaghra link                                     | Bihar &U.P &Nepal           | Draft FR completed                            |
|     3 | Gandak - Ganga link                                   | U.P &Nepal                  | FR completed (Indian portion)                 |
|     4 | Ghaghra - Yamuna link                                 | U.P &Nepal                  | FR completed (Indian portion)                 |
|     5 | Sarda - Yamuna link                                   | U.P &Uttarakhand            | FR completed                                  |
|     6 | Yamuna-Rajasthan link                                 | Haryana &Rajasthan          | FR completed                                  |
|     7 | Rajasthan-Sabarmati link                              | Rajasthan &Gujarat          | FR completed                                  |
|     8 | Chunar-Sone Barrage link                              | Bihar &U.P                  | PFR completed                                 |
|     9 | Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga link         | Bihar &Jharkhand            | PFR completed                                 |
|    10 | Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S- T-G) link             | Assam, W.B &Bihar           | FR completed                                  |
|    11 | Jogighopa-Tista-Farakka link (Alternative to M-S-T-G) | Assam, W.B &Bihar           | PFR completed (The proposal has been dropped) |
|    12 | Farakka-Sundarbans link                               | W.B                         | FR completed                                  |
|    13 | Ganga(Farakka) - Damodar- Subarnarekha link           | W.B., Odisha& Jharkhand     | FR completed                                  |
|    14 | Subarnarekha-Mahanadi link                            | W.B. &Odisha                | FR completed                                  |