Lok Sabha Question No. 3361 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-20
Subject: Availability of Ravi-Beas River Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3361

ANSWERED ON 20.03.2025

## AVAILABILITY OF RAVI-BEAS RIVER WATER

## 3361. SMT. HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to reassess the availability of Ravi-Beas rivers waters based on international norms, as requested by Punjab;

(b) the manner in which the Government is planning to address the alarming rate of groundwater depletion in the Punjab given that 76.5% of State's blocks are over-exploited;

(c)  whether  there  are  any  centrally  sponsored  schemes  specifically  aimed  at  groundwater  conservation  in Punjab and if so, the details thereof;

(d) the stance of the Government on Punjab's claim to Yamuna waters under the successor state principle as the said State argues while Haryana benefits from Ravi-Beas waters and the reasons for exclusion of Yamuna from apportionment;

(e) whether the Government is providing any technical or financial assistance to Punjab to further enhance its irrigation infrastructure and reduce groundwater dependence, considering the State has increased canal water utilization from 21% to 84% for irrigation, if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the expected timeline for the Ravi-Beas Tribunal's decision?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) The allocation of surplus Ravi-Beas waters was done amongst the States of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan as  per  the  1981  Agreement  on  the  basis  of  flow  series  of  1921-1960  (17.17  MAF).  The  Agreement  also provides that in case of any variation in the figure of 17.17 MAF in any year, the shares shall be changed prorata, without changing the allocations made to Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi water supply.

(b) The Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country are being assessed annually from 2022 jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments. As per Ground Water Resource Assessment2024,  the  total  annual  ground  water  extraction  in  Punjab  has  been  assessed  as  27.66  Billion  Cubic  Metre (BCM) of which 26.24 BCM is for irrigation use.

Out of 153 assessment units, 115 assessment units (75.16%)  have been categorized as 'Over-exploited', 4 blocks (2.61%) as 'Critical', 12 blocks (7.84%) as 'Semi Critical' and 22 blocks (14.38%) as 'Safe'.

Water  being  a  State  subject,  the  aspects  related  to  water  resources  development  are  studied,  planned, funded and executed by the State Governments themselves as per their own resources and priorities. Role of Government  of  India  is  limited  to  being  catalytic,  providing  technical  support  and,  in  some  cases  partial financial  assistance  in  terms  with  the  existing  schemes  being  implemented  by  the  Department  of  Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. However, various steps have been taken to encourage water harvesting in country:

-  National Aquifer Mapping Studies have been carried out in State of Punjab for an area of 50369 Sq. km. Based on NAQUIM studies, groundwater management plans have been prepared and reports have been shared with State and District Authorities.
-  NAQUIM 2.0 studies were taken up in priority areas of Ludhiana and Sangrur districts under poor quality  and  over-exploited  area  category  respectively  in  Punjab  to  obtain  information  in  higher granularity to provide issue based scientific inputs for groundwater management.
-  Master plan for artificial recharge for 23 water stressed districts of Punjab on a scale of 1:50000 covering an area of 48537 sq. km has been prepared & shared with state government. 485366 nos. of farm ponds and 689761 nos. of rooftop rain water harvesting structures have been proposed.
-  GIS based Recharge plan has been prepared for 20 districts.
-  A total of 34 nos. of Public interaction programs have been organized in various parts of Punjab in which 3148 people participated. Tier - II and Tier - III level trainings are being conducted since 2012  to  promote  awareness  on  the  importance  of  participatory  groundwater  management  and  to spread awareness among the masses to reduce the dependence on groundwater and restore the water table. Total 06 nos. of Tier II and 15 nos. of Tier III trainings have been organized so far.
-  National Water Policy (2012) has been formulated by Department of Water Resources, RD & GR, which  advocates  rainwater  harvesting  and  conservation  of  water.  In  urban  areas,  rainwater harvesting wherever techno-economically feasible, should be encouraged to increase availability of utilizable  water.  Implementation  of  rainwater  harvesting  should  include  scientific  monitoring  of parameters like hydrogeology, groundwater contamination, pollution and spring discharges.
-  Besides, Ministry has circulated a Model Bill to all the States/UTs to enable them to enact suitable ground water legislation for regulation of its development, which also includes provision of rain water harvesting. So far, 21 States/UTs have adopted and implemented the ground water legislation. The Model Bill envisages that in urban areas, rain water available from roof tops of buildings and other  open  areas  can  be  utilized  gainfully  for  ground  water  recharge.  Rain  water  harvesting structures feasible in urban areas include recharge pits, trench, existing tube wells or open wells etc.
-  Ministry  of  Housing  &  Urban  Affairs  has  released  Model  Building  Bye-laws,  2016  which recommends Rainwater Harvesting for all types of Building with plot size 100 sq. m or more.  So far, 35 States have incorporated the provisions in their respective building bye laws.

(c) Ground  Water  Management  and  Regulation  (GWMR)  Scheme  is  a  continuing  Central  Sector  Scheme implemented in the country including Punjab. The scheme has been approved for continuation for the period 2021-26. Under the GWMR scheme, activities related to exploration, monitoring, assessment and management of ground water resources are carried out across the country, including Punjab with an aim to provide scientific inputs for sustainable development and management of ground water resources.

(d) For the allocation of the utilisable surface water resources of river Yamuna upto Okhla, a MoU was signed between  five  co-basin  states  viz.  Haryana,  Uttar  Pradesh  (including  Uttarakhand),  Rajasthan,  Himachal Pradesh and Delhi in 1994. As per the MoU the water in the said basin was being utilised by these co-basin States  at  ex-Tajewala  and  ex-Okhla  for  meeting  their  irrigation  and  drinking  water  needs.  Accordingly,  the utilizable water resources of the river Yamuna (upto Okhla) are allocated to the above co-basin States.

(e) In  Punjab  State,  there  is  one  major  multipurpose  project  (Shahpurkandi  Dam  Project),  two  Extension, Renovation and Modernization (ERM) projects (Relining of Sirhind Feeder Canal and Relining of Rajasthan Feeder  Canal)  and  one  Command  Area  Development  and  Water  Management  (CAD&WM)  project  (Kotla Branch Part-II) which are being partially funded by Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga  Rejuvenation,  Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti.  For  these  ongoing  projects,  a  total  Central  Assistance  of  Rs. 1,330.38  Crore  has  been  released.  Further,  two  projects  namely  Kandi  Canal  Extension  Phase  II  and Rehabilitation of 1st Patiala Feeder and Kotla Branch Project in Punjab have been completed under PMKSYAIBP.

Through these projects, new irrigation potential is being created, lost irrigation potential is restored, gap between irrigation potential created and utilized is being bridged to enhance contribution of surface water in irrigation.

(f) Ravi Beas Waters Tribunal (RBWT) was constituted under Inter State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 on 02.04.1986.  The  Tribunal  has  forwarded  its  report  under  Section  5(2)  of  the  ISRWD  Act  on  30.01.1987. Further, the Tribunal is in receipt of references under Section 5(3) of the ISRWD Act from the concerned State Governments and the Central Government for giving such explanation or guidance as it deems fit. Since, the further report under Section 5(3) of the ISRWD Act is still to be submitted by the Tribunal, the time to submit the  further  report  by  Tribunal  has  been  extended  from  time  to  time.  It  was  last  extended  vide  Gazette Notification No. S.O. 3114 (E) dated 02.08.2024 till 05.08.2025.

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