Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is implementing a scheme viz. Development of Water Resources Information System (DWRIS) with the main objective of collecting the necessary data from various sources, analysis of important data and developing a robust information system on water resources. A Web based Water Resources Information System named as INDIA-WRIS (www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in), has been launched. The Central Water Commission also brings out a publication Water and Related Statistics every two years.
Further, under the project National Wetland Inventory & Assessment sponsored by Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Space Application Centre, Ahmadabad has carried out a survey in the year 2010 and prepared the National Wetland Inventory Atlas, mapping a total of 7,57,060 wetlands in the country at 1:50,000 scale. As per the Atlas, total wetland area is estimated to be 15.26 million hectares, nearly 4.63% of the total geographical area of the country.
In the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17) under the DWRIS plan scheme, Rs. 80.00 crore has been allocated for Web enabled WRIS and setting up of National Water Informatics Center (NWIC). No funds are allocated to the State Governments under this scheme.
State Governments undertake several measures for protection and revival of water bodies in the States. The State efforts are supplemented by the Central Government under the scheme for Repair, Renovation & Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies. It is proposed to provide Central assistance for restoration of 10,000 water bodies during the 12th plan at a cost of Rs. 6235 crore.
Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change is implementing a scheme viz. National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) for conservation of lakes and wetlands. This scheme is presently operational on a 70:30 cost sharing between Central Government and respective State Governments (90:10 for North Eastern States).
Further, the National Water Policy, 2012 has made several recommendations for protection and revival of water bodies in the country, such as protection against pollution and encroachment / diversion of water bodies as well as integrated conservation in a scientifically planned manner through community participation, etc.
The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has issued an advisory to the States on conservation and restoration of water bodies in urban areas. The States have been advised to designate water bodies as a separate land use classification that is legally tenable. It should be done in parallel with the protected areas as defined under the Environment Protection Act and the Forest Protection Act to prevent their encroachment and destruction.
This information was given by Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Prof. Sanwar Lal Jat in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
