Lok Sabha Question No. 609 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-06
Subject: "Prakasha-Burai Lift Irrigation Project" in Nandurbar, Maharashtra
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi

## †609.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 609

ANSWERED ON 06.02.2025

## "PRAKASHA-BURAI LIFT IRRIGATION PROJECT" IN NANDURBAR, MAHARASHTRA ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI

## Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the "Prakasha-Burai Lift Irrigation Project" in the Nandurbar taluka and district of Maharashtra has been pending for a long time and if so, the details thereof;

(b)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  entire  Nandurbar  taluka  and  neighbouring  talukas  are  gradually  becoming drought-prone areas due to the water scarcity issue and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has any plan to allocate and release 40% or more of the required funds for this project by considering the remaining funds to be provided by the Maharashtra State Government and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the funds have been allocated and distributed for the said project and if so, the details thereof; and (e) whether any steps have been taken to prevent the Nandurbar Lok Sabha Constituency from being classified as a drought-prone area and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) to (d) Water being a State subject, it is for the State Government concerned to plan, execute, operate and manage the irrigation projects, and to prepare action plan to make irrigation system more extensive in the State. Role  of  Government  of  India  is  limited  to  providing  technical  support,  and  partial  financial  assistance  for identified  projects  under  the  ongoing  schemes.  Further,  for  major  and  medium  irrigation  projects  on  interState river systems, techno-economic viability is to be appraised by Central Water Commission (CWC) under this Ministry.

Prakasha-Burai  Lift  Irrigation  Project  in  Nadurbar  taluka  and  district  of  Maharashtra  is  being constructed by Government of Maharashtra from their own financial resources. Government of Maharashtra has  intimated  that  revised  administrative  approval  for  the  project  amounting  to  Rs.  793.95  crore  has  been accorded in March, 2024. Expenditure incurred on the project till date is Rs. 121.94 crore. The  project has potential to irrigate 7,085 hectare drought prone area of Nandurbar and Dhule districts of Maharashtra.

No proposal for central assistance to Prakasha-Burai Lift Irrigation Project has been received in this Ministry from Government of Maharashtra.

Central  Ground  Water  Board  (CGWB)  monitors  groundwater  levels  throughout  the  country  on  a regional scale including Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, four times, every year. The district-wise water level measured for the Month of November 2024 for Nandurbar district of Maharashtra is given in Annexure. The perusal of data indicates that in Nandurbar district, approximately 84% of the analyzed wells fall within the 010 mbgl range.

The long term fluctuation in ground water level as indicated by decadal fluctuation, i.e.,  November, 2024 compared with the decadal mean of November water levels of ten years (2014-2023) indicate that 78% of well in Nandurbar District show rise in ground water levels.  Decadal Water Level Fluctuation in respect of Nandurbar district of Maharashtra is also given in Annexure.

(e) Initiatives taken by Government of India for development of irrigation and augmentation of ground water in Nandurbar district of Maharashta, is outlined below:-

1. Micro  irrigation  in  an  area  of  18,461  hectares  in  Nandurbar  district  of  Maharashtra  has  been developed under Per drop More Crop (PDMC) component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY)
2. Four projects of Nandurbar district of Maharashtra with coverage of 16,383 hectares area has been sanctioned under Watershed Development (WD) component of PMKSY.
3. CGWB has completed the National Aquifer Mapping (NAQUIM) Project in the entire mappable area of about 25 lakh square kilometer including Nandurbar district of Maharashtra. The Aquifer maps and management plans have been prepared and shared with the respective State agencies for implementation.  The  management  plans  include  various  water  conservation  measures  through demand side and supply side interventions.
4. As  a  capacity  building  under  NAQUIM  studies,  a  total  of  two  Tier-III  trainings  (Block  Level Training) with 237 participants were conducted in Nandurbar and Shahada talukas in 2019.  One public interaction program has been organised in Shirpur taluka, Dhule district with 47 number of participants  in  2021.  One-day  training  workshop  entitled  'Hamara  Jal-  Hamara  Jeevan'  on  the theme of 'Water Management for Sustainable Development' was conducted by the State agency during India Water Week-2015 (IWW-2015) in Nandurbar district.
5. CGWB has prepared a Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 in consultation with States/UTs which is a macro level plan indicating various structures for the different terrain conditions  of  the  country  including  estimated  cost.  The  Master  Plan  envisages  construction  of about 1.42 crore rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the country to harness 185  Billion  Cubic  Metre  (BCM)  of  monsoon  rainfall.  For  Nandurbar  district  of  Maharashtra, 25,755 nos. of rain water harvesting structure have been proposed in the Master Plan.

***

## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 609 TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  06.02.2025  REGARDING  '"PRAKASHA-BURAI  LIFT IRRIGATION PROJECT" IN NANDURBAR, MAHARASHTRA'.

## A.  Depth  to  Water  Level  Distribution  of  Percentage  of  Observation  Wells  Post-Monsoon  2024  in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra (Unconfined Aquifer)

|               | No of well analysed   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   | No./Percentage of wells showing depth to water level (mbgl) in the range of   |
|---------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| District Name |                       | 0 to 2                                                                        | 0 to 2                                                                        | 2 to 5                                                                        | 2 to 5                                                                        | 5 to 10                                                                       | 5 to 10                                                                       | 10 to 20                                                                      | 10 to 20                                                                      | 20 to 40                                                                      | 20 to 40                                                                      | > 40                                                                          | > 40                                                                          |
|               |                       | No.                                                                           | %                                                                             | No.                                                                           | %                                                                             | No.                                                                           | %                                                                             | No.                                                                           | %                                                                             | No.                                                                           | %                                                                             | No.                                                                           | %                                                                             |
| Nandurbar     | 19                    | 1                                                                             | 5.3                                                                           | 13                                                                            | 68.4                                                                          | 2                                                                             | 10.5                                                                          | 3                                                                             | 15.8                                                                          | 0                                                                             | 0.0                                                                           | 0                                                                             | 0.0                                                                           |

## B. Categorization  of  changes  in  water  level  between  Mean  of  Post-monsoon  2014  to  2023  with  Postmonsoon 2024 (Nandurbar district of Maharashtra)

| District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   | District Name No of wells No./Percentage of wells showing fluctuation to water level (m) in the range of   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                            | analysed                                                                                                   | Rise                                                                                                       | Rise                                                                                                       | Rise                                                                                                       | Rise                                                                                                       | Rise                                                                                                       | Rise                                                                                                       | Fall                                                                                                       | Fall                                                                                                       | Fall                                                                                                       | Fall                                                                                                       | Fall                                                                                                       | Fall                                                                                                       |
|                                                                                                            |                                                                                                            | 0 to 2                                                                                                     | 0 to 2                                                                                                     | 2 to 4                                                                                                     | 2 to 4                                                                                                     | > 4                                                                                                        | > 4                                                                                                        | 0 to 2                                                                                                     | 0 to 2                                                                                                     | 2 to 4                                                                                                     | > 4                                                                                                        | > 4                                                                                                        |                                                                                                            |
| Nandurbar                                                                                                  | 18                                                                                                         | 5                                                                                                          | 27.8                                                                                                       | 6                                                                                                          | 33.3                                                                                                       | 3                                                                                                          | 16.7                                                                                                       | 4                                                                                                          | 22.2                                                                                                       | 0                                                                                                          | 0                                                                                                          | 0                                                                                                          |                                                                                                            |

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