Lok Sabha Question No. 1874 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-28
Subject: Shortage of Water
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: ALOK SANJAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1874

ANSWERED ON 28.07.2016

## SHORTAGE OF WATER

†1874. SHRI ALOK SANJAR

Will the Minister of WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether India is likely to face huge shortage of water by the year 2050;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has formulated any policy to deal with the above situation;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government has formulated any scheme for rainwater harvesting in the country, and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES,  RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND GANGA REJUVENATION (DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

- (a)  &  (b)  The  average  annual  water  availability  in  the  country  has  been  assessed  by  Central  Water Commission  as  1869  billion  cubic  meters  (BCM).  However,  due  to  topographic,  hydrological  and other constrains, the utilizable water has been estimated to be about 1123 BCM, comprising of 690 BCM of surface water and 433 BCM of replenishable ground water.

The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (NCIWRD) had in its Report in 1999, estimated, that the total water requirement for different purposes for the year 2025 and 2050 would be about 843 BCM and 1180 BCM respectively.

In view of growing population, the per capita water availability in India is getting reduced year after year as given below;

| Year             |   Population (in millions) |   Per Capita water availability (inm 3 /year) |
|------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| 1951             |                        361 |                                          5177 |
| 2001             |                       1027 |                                          1820 |
| 2011             |                       1210 |                                          1545 |
| 2025 (projected) |                       1394 |                                          1341 |
| 2050 (projected) |                       1640 |                                          1140 |

According  to  Falkenmark  Water  Stress  Indicator,  a  per-capita  water  availability  of  less  than  1700 cubic  meters  is  considered  as  water  stressed  condition,  whereas  per-capita  water  availability  below 1000 cubic meters is considered as a water scarcity condition.

(c) &  (d)  The  National  Water  Policy,  2012  formulated  by  this Ministry  has  made  several recommendations for enhancing water available for use. Some of the recommendations of the Policy in this regard are as under:

- i. The availability of water resources and its use by various sectors in various basin and States in the country need to be assessed scientifically and reviewed at periodic intervals, say, every five years. The trends in water availability due to various factors including climate change must be assessed and accounted for during water resources planning.
- ii. The  availability  of  water  is  limited  but  the  demand  of  water  is  increasing  rapidly  due  to growing  population,  rapid  urbanization,  rapid  industrialization  and  economic  development. Therefore,  availability  of  water  for  utilization  needs  to  be  augmented  to  meet  increasing demands  of  water.  Direct  use  of  rainfall,  desalination  and  avoidance  of  inadvertent  evapotranspiration are the new additional strategies for augmenting utilizable water resources.
- iii. There is a need to map the aquifers to know the quantum and quality of ground water resources (replenishable  as  well  as  non-replenishable)  in  the  country.  This  process  should  be  fully participatory involving local communities. This may be periodically updated.
- iv. Declining  ground  water  levels  in  over-exploited  areas  need  to  be  arrested  by  introducing improved  technologies  of  water  use,  incentivizing  efficient  water  use  and  encouraging community based management of aquifers. In addition, where necessary, artificial recharging projects should be undertaken so that extraction is less than the recharge. This would allow the aquifers to provide base flows to the surface system, and maintain ecology.
- v. Inter-basin transfers are not merely for increasing production but also for meeting basic human need  and  achieving  equity  and  social  justice.  Inter-basin  transfers  of  water  should  be considered on the basis of merits of each case after evaluating the environmental, economic and social impacts of such transfers.
- vi. Integrated Watershed development activities with groundwater perspectives need to be taken in a comprehensive manner to increase soil moisture, reduce sediment yield and increase overall land and water productivity. To the extent possible, existing programs like MGNREGA may be  used  by  farmers  to  harvest  rain  water  using  farm  ponds  and  other  soil  and  water conservation measures.

(e) State  Governments undertake several measures for augmenting, conserving and utilizing the water resources which inter-alia include conservation of water resources in reservoirs and traditional water  bodies,  rain  water  harvesting  and  artificial  recharge  of  ground  water.  This  Ministry  provides technical and financial assistance to the State Governments in this regard through various schemes and programmes  viz.  Accelerated  Irrigation  Benefits  Programme,  Scheme  for  Repair,  Renovation  & Restoration of Water-bodies etc.

Central  Ground  Water  Board,  under  this  Ministry  has  prepared  a  conceptual  document  entitled 'Master  Plan  for  Artificial  Recharge  to  Ground  Water  in  India'  during  the  year  2013  envisaging construction of 1.11 crore Rainwater Harvesting and Artificial Recharge structures in the country to harness  85  BCM  (Billion  Cubic  Meters)  of  water.  The  augmented  ground  water  resources  will enhance the availability of water for drinking, domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes. The Master Plan has been circulated to all State Governments for implementation.

Recycle and reuse of water, after treatment to specified standards as well as rainwater harvesting and artificial  recharge  are  being  incentivized  through  various  initiatives,  programmes/  schemes  of  the Government.

This Ministry has circulated a Model Bill to all the States/UTs to enable them to enact suitable ground water legislation for its regulation and development which includes provision of rain water harvesting. 15 States/UTs have adopted and implemented the ground water legislation on the lines of Model Bill. 31 States/UTs have made rain water harvesting mandatory by enacting laws or by formulating rules & regulations or by including provisions in Building bye-laws or through suitable Government Orders.

The water conservation and water harvesting structures to augment ground water constitute a special focus area for MGNREGA; about 2/3 rd of the expenditure is directly related to construction of water harvesting structures.

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