All that was discussed in the House through the day
Average extraction of groundwater across India reduced from 2017 through 2020, Union water resources minister Bishweswar Tudu told the Rajya Sabha.
The availability of extractable groundwater resources has increased from around 249 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2017 to nearly 245 BCM in 2020, he stated
Another data by the CWGB indicates that about 70 per cent of wells monitored by the body have registered a rise in water level. Whereas 30 per cent of the wells have reported a decline in groundwater levels, he added.
Groundwater extraction for domestic and industrial purposes accounts for around 11 per cent of India’s total extraction, Tudu told Rajya Sabha.
The minister quoted the data from the Ground Water Resource Assessment, 2020, conducted by the CGWB.
Around 111 districts in the country are provided with functional household tap connections under Jal Jeevan Mission-Har Ghar Jal scheme, Prahlad Singh Patel, Union minister of state for water resources, told the Rajya Sabha.
Similarly, there are around 74,450 ‘Har Ghar Jal’ Gram Panchayat in the country, he added.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are mandated to hand over the Krishna river’s irrigation and power projects to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, told the Rajya Sabha.
However, both the states have not handed over the administration, regulation, maintenance and operation of such projects to KRMB, he added.
Telangana has been drawing water from the Krishna river for hydro-electric power generation. However, during the water year 2021-22, the KRMB has requested the Telangana government to follow the water release orders issued by them, Shekhawat said.
Some 4,372 cities/urban local bodies have been declared open defecation-free, Kaushal Kishore, minister of state in the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, told the Rajya Sabha.
In urban areas, until March 2022 total of 6255,064 individual toilets and 621,207 Public and Community toilets were constructed under Swachh Bharat Mission –Urban, he added.
As per the census 2011, there are 4526 forest villages in the country with a total population of about 2.206 million.
Information regarding the number of people residing in the country’s reserved forests and protected areas is not collated by the ministry, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, minister of state in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, told the Lok Sabha.
India’s total forest cover has increased by 1,540 square kilometres, Choubey told the Lok Sabha. He quoted the data from the latest India State of Forest Report.
Tree cover has increased by 721 square kilometres and total forest and tree cover has increased by 2261 square kilometres, he added.
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