New Delhi: The average annual water resources of the 20 basins of the country have been assessed as 1999.20 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM). While the average annual per capita water availability in the year 2011 had been assessed as 1545 cubic meters, studies show that the average annual per capita water availability may reduce to 1486 cubic meters by 2021.
During the last 3 years (2017-18 to 2019-20) total Central Assistance (CA) of Rs.1690.35 crore had been released under Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWM) Programme to various States. The States had thus far reported a total expenditure (including State share) of Rs.3444.12 crore.
Besides, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) was implementing National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM), which was initiated in 2021 and envisages mapping of aquifers (water bearing formations), their characterisation and development of aquifer management plans to facilitate sustainable management of ground water resources. Out of nearly 33 lakh sq. km. geographical area of the country, a mappable area of around 25 lakh sq km had been identified by the CGWB to be covered under this programme. So far, 15.57 lakh sq. km. areas had been covered.
Government claims that rivers in the country are polluted and contaminated mainly due to discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities and towns and industrial effluents in their respective catchments. Non-point sources of pollution like agricultural run off, open defecation, runoff from solid waste dump sites also contribute to pollution of rivers. A total of 48,169 rural habitations have been reported by States to be quality-affected.
Monitoring by CGWB have indicated the occurrence of contaminants such as Flouride, Arsenic, Nitrate, Iron and Heavy Metals beyond permissible limits (as per BIS) for human consumption in isolated pockets in various States and Union Territories. The Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Social Justice and Empowerment, Rattan Lal Kataria, informed Lok Sabha today that the Government started a National Water Quality Sub Mission (NWQSM) in the year 2017 specifically aimed at 27,544 habitations affected by Arsenic and Fluoride. Till date, all such habitations have been provided with potable water barring 1,369 habitations. He informed that the work is going on to cover left out habitations as soon as possible.
“With a view to facilitate sustainable development of ground water, Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) is presently granting No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for groundwater extraction with mandatory conditions in 19 States and 2 Union Territories (UTs) as per the extant ground water regulation guidelines,” Kataria said.
As per a report published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in March 2015, sewage generation from urban areas in the country was estimated at 61,948 million litres per day (mld), against which available sewage treatment capacity was 23,277 mld.
The CPCB had thus far identified 2968 grossly polluting industries (GPIs) in the country. Out of these, 2318 industries were operational and 650 industries had closed down on their own. Out of the 2318 operational industries, 2190 industries were complying with prescribed environmental standards, whereas 128 were non-complying, the CPCB stated. “Accordingly, show-cause notices have been issued to 56 non-complying industries, closure directions have been issued to 55 industries and legal cases have been filed against 2 industries,” Kataria said.
As per CPCB report of September 2018, 351 polluted river stretches had been identified on 323 rivers based on monitoring results in terms of Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, an indicator of organic pollution.
The Minister said that the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) of Ministry of Jal Shakti had so far covered polluted stretches of 34 rivers in 77 towns spread over 16 States in the country with a sanctioned cost of Rs.5965.90 crore and sewage treatment capacity of 2522.03 million litres per day (mld) had been created.
Under Namami Gange programme, he informed, a total of 335 projects had been sanctioned at a cost of Rs.29,578 crore so far, of which 142 projects have been completed and made operational. Out of 335 projects, 156 projects were in the sewerage sector for creation of total sewage treatment capacity of 4867 mld and sewerage network of 5066 kms.
“Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in collaboration with the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) is regularly monitoring the water quality of rivers and other water bodies in the country through a network of monitoring stations,” Kataria said. He further informed that for strengthening the monitoring mechanism and effective compliance through self-regulatory mechanism, CPCB had directed all 17 categories of highly polluting industries; including sugar industries, to install Continuous Effluent/ Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) for keeping a constant vigil on pollution levels.
According to the Minister, the CPCB had started inspection of the 17 categories of highly polluting industries from 2016-17 onwards based on the computer generated short message service (SMS) alerts owing to violation of effluent and emission standards recorded in OCEMS installed in these industries.
The Minister said the CPCB had informed that 27 sugar industries have been inspected from October, 2016 till January, 2021 under this initiative, and 13 industries were found non-complying during inspection. Show-cause notices to 3 industries and closure directions to 9 industries were, therefore, issued as per Section 5 of Environment Protection Act, 1986. For the remaining one industry, directions were issued to Maharashtra SPCB under Section 18(1)(b) of the Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981. Out of these 13 sugar industries found non-complying during inspection, 8 industries were found complying as on date, and directions were, therefore, still in force for the remaining 5 industries.
– global bihari bureau
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