Lok Sabha Question No. 79 (STARRED), answered on 2016-04-28
Subject: Depletion in Ground Water Level
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. * 79

ANSWERED ON 28.04.2016

## DEPLETION IN GROUND WATER LEVEL

## *79. SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware of depletion in ground water level in various States including  Haryana  and  Punjab,  if  so,  the  State-wise  details  thereof  and  the  reasons therefor;
- (b) whether the Government is also aware of shortage of water in rivers in various States, if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  apart  from  flood  forecast,  mapping  of  flood  affected  areas  is  likely  to  be carried out to deal with the situation, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has allocated/released funds for the purpose, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the action plan of the Government to check depletion in river water as well as ground water level?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION (SUSHRI UMA BHARTI)

(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART S (a)  TO  (e)  OF  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  †*79  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  28.04.2016  IN  LOK  SABHA REGARDING 'DEPLETION IN GROUND WATER LEVEL' ASKED BY SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY, HON'BLE M.P, LOK SABHA:

(a) Ground water is continuously being exploited due to growth in population, increased industrialization and irrigation and its use being highly inefficient, has resulted in decline of  ground  water  levels  in  various  parts  of  the  Country.    Central  Ground  Water  Board (CGWB) under  the  Ministry  of  Water  Resources,  RD  &  GR  carries  out  ground  water monitoring, four times a year, on regional scale through a network of observation wells in the  Country  including  Haryana  and  Punjab.    Water  level  data  for  pre-monsoon  2015 compared  with  decadal  mean  of  pre-monsoon  (2005-2014)  indicates  decline  in  ground water level in 47% of the wells monitored. Details are given at Annexure.

- (b) Central Water Commission (CWC) is monitoring live storage status of 91 reservoirs covering all the regions of the Country on weekly basis. The total live storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 157.799 BCM (Billion Cubic Metre).  As on 21 P st P April 2016, live storage is 34.082  BCM, which is 22% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. This storage is 65% of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 76% of storage of average of last ten years.
- (c) A  Model  Bill  on  Flood  Plain  Zoning  was  circulated  to  all  the  States  in  1975  for guidance of States for enactment of legislation. The Model Bill provides for flood zoning authorities,  surveys  and  delineation  of  flood  plain  area,  notification  of  limits  of  flood plains, prohibition or restriction of the use of the flood plains, compensation and power to remove  obstruction  etc.  Govt.  of  Manipur  has  enacted  flood  plain  zoning  legislation  in 1978, but the demarcation of flood zones has not been done, as yet. The State of Rajasthan has also enacted legislation. The State Government of Uttarakhand has also passed Flood Plain Zoning Act on 16 P th P December, 2012 but the demarcation of flood zones has not been done,  as  yet.  Some  States  like  Bihar  and  UP  have  informed  about  difficulties  in implementation of Bill due to large flood affected plain areas.
- (d) No fund has been allocated / released for mapping of flood affected areas.
- (e)  Following steps have been taken to check depletion of river and ground water :
- CWC has issued an advisory on 12 th April,  2016  to  the  concerned  Engineer-inChief of State Governments regarding judicious use of available water in view of low storage position of reservoirs in 2016.
- As per Schedule-I of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act  (MGNREGA),  the  water  conservation  and  water  harvesting  structures  to augment ground water constitute a special focus area for MGNREGA works.
- During XI Plan, Demonstrative Artificial Recharge Projects were taken up under Central Sector Scheme 'Ground Water Management & Regulation'.  The scheme on  Artificial  Recharge  project  under  Ground  Water  Management  &  Regulation Scheme has been discontinued during the XII Plan period.
- A conceptual document entitled 'Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water  in  India'  has  been  prepared  during  the  year  2013,  which  envisages construction  of  different  types  of  Artificial  Recharge  and  Rainwater  Harvesting structures  in  the  Country  in  an  area  of  9,41,541  sq.km  for  harnessing  surplus monsoon runoff to  augment ground  water  resources.  The  Master  Plan  has  been circulated to all State Governments for implementation.
- Ministry of Urban Development in its Draft Model Building Bye-Laws (2015) has incorporated a Chapter on Provision of Rain Water Harvesting.
- Central  Ground  Water  Authority  (CGWA) constituted under 'The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986' for the purpose of regulation and control of ground water development and management has issued advisory to States/ Union Territories and Ministry  of  Urban  Development  to  take  necessary  measures  for  adopting  rain water harvesting/ artificial recharge in all the Government buildings.  Besides, 30 States/UTs  have  made  rainwater  harvesting  mandatory  by  enacting  laws  / formulating rules & regulations / by including provisions in building bye-laws / through suitable Government Orders etc.
- CGWB  has  been  organizing  mass  awareness  programmes  in  the  Country  to promote rain water harvesting and artificial recharge to ground water.

*****

Annexure  referred  in  reply  to  Lok  Sabha  Starred  Question  No.79  for  28.04.2016 regarding 'Depletion in Ground Water Level'

## State-wise  Decadal  Water  Level  Fluctuation  With  Mean  of  Pre-monsoon(2005  to 2014)] and Pre-monsoon 2015

| S. No.   | Name of State        | No. of wells Analysed   | Rise   | Rise   | Fall   | Fall   | Wells showing no change   | Wells showing no change   |
|----------|----------------------|-------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------------------------|---------------------------|
| S. No.   | Name of State        | No. of wells Analysed   | No     | %      | No     | %      | No                        | %                         |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh       | 731                     | 264    | 36     | 456    | 62     | 11                        | 2                         |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh    | 12                      | 6      | 50     | 6      | 50     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 3        | Assam                | 187                     | 83     | 44     | 104    | 56     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 4        | Bihar                | 477                     | 255    | 53     | 217    | 45     | 5                         | 1                         |
| 5        | Chandigarh           | 11                      | 3      | 27     | 8      | 73     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh         | 560                     | 322    | 58     | 231    | 41     | 7                         | 1                         |
| 7        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 11                      | 5      | 45     | 6      | 55     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 8        | Daman & Diu          | 7                       | 1      | 14     | 6      | 86     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 9        | Delhi                | 114                     | 42     | 37     | 72     | 63     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 10       | Goa                  | 41                      | 24     | 59     | 17     | 41     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 11       | Gujarat              | 769                     | 349    | 45     | 414    | 54     | 6                         | 1                         |
| 12       | Haryana              | 313                     | 128    | 41     | 185    | 59     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 13       | Himachal Pradesh     | 87                      | 57     | 66     | 30     | 34     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 14       | Jammu & Kashmir      | 224                     | 195    | 87     | 29     | 13     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 15       | Jharkhand            | 147                     | 69     | 47     | 78     | 53     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 16       | Karnataka            | 1369                    | 835    | 61     | 511    | 37     | 23                        | 2                         |
| 17       | Kerala               | 1151                    | 686    | 60     | 461    | 40     | 4                         | 0                         |
| 18       | Madhya Pradesh       | 1303                    | 764    | 59     | 537    | 41     | 2                         | 0                         |
| 19       | Maharashtra          | 1400                    | 729    | 52     | 667    | 48     | 4                         | 0                         |
| 20       | Meghalaya            | 17                      | 4      | 24     | 13     | 76     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 21       | Odhisha              | 1189                    | 628    | 53     | 550    | 46     | 11                        | 1                         |
| 22       | Pondicherry          | 4                       | 2      | 50     | 2      | 50     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 23       | Punjab               | 615                     | 171    | 28     | 432    | 70     | 12                        | 2                         |
| 24       | Rajasthan            | 779                     | 459    | 59     | 320    | 41     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu           | 583                     | 331    | 57     | 252    | 43     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 26       | Telangana            | 521                     | 146    | 28     | 371    | 71     | 4                         | 1                         |
| 27       | Tripura              | 28                      | 15     | 54     | 13     | 46     | 0                         | 0                         |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh        | 749                     | 375    | 50     | 372    | 50     | 2                         | 0                         |
| 29       | Uttarakhand          | 37                      | 11     | 30     | 26     | 70     | 0                         | 0                         |
| Total    | Total                | 14321                   | 7431   | 52     | 6799   | 47     | 91                        |                           |
|          |                      |                         |        |        |        |        |                           | 1.00                      |