India, Dec. 4 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
As per the dynamic ground water resource assessment report, 2025 of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), both Mau and Balia districts are in safe category in terms of their Stage of ground water Extraction (SoE) and no district of the region is in over-exploited or critical category. Further, although Arsenic contamination has been reported in isolated pockets of the region, overall, the ground water remains largely potable.
In this regard, it is also to mention that 'Water' being a State subject, sustainable development and management of water and groundwater resources along with mitigation of quality issues, is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments. However, the Central Government facilitates the efforts of the State Governments by way of technical and financial assistance through its various schemes and projects.
The major steps taken in this direction, including the latest initiatives are provided below:
As noted above, most of the schemes and programmes for ground water management and improvement are taken up through convergence with ongoing state and central schemes MGNREGS, PMKSY etc. and no separate budgetary allocation is made for the states. Under MGNREGS, as per scheme guidelines at least 60% expenditure is to be incurred on public works relating to Natural Resource Management (NRM) under which construction of water conservation and water harvesting structures is a major thrust area.
Further, the government's efforts towards mitigating the drinking water quality issues and providing safe drinking water to all rural households of the country are mainly channelled through the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scheme. As per available information from JJM dashboard, an amount of Rs. 60,816 crores have been allocated to the State of Uttar Pradesh as central share under JJM from 2019 to date. States can utilize up to 2% of the total allocated amount for Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance. Further, it is for the state governments to devise and execute suitable projects from the allocated amount based on local requirements.
This Ministry, in partnership with states, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) - Har Ghar Jal, which marks an important milestone for providing contamination free potable tap water to every rural household of the country in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on regular & long-term basis.
Following measures have been taken under JJM for ensuring the quality of water delivered to habitations:
Further, CGWB has also developed an innovative cement sealing technology for tapping deeper Arsenic free aquifers in the Arsenic affected areas and has so far successfully constructed 525 Arsenic safe exploratory wells, including 294 wells in Uttar Pradesh, with 3 wells in Mau and 53 in Balia district. CGWB is also providing technical assistance to state departments for taking up similar constructions. As informed by the State government, the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, the department responsible for drinking water supply in the state, is extensively using cement Sealing Technique and so far, 204 arsenic safe wells have been constructed in 9 Districts benefiting 5 lakh inhabitants.
The information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
