Groundwater scheme lags behind, uses just Rs 71 cr out of Rs 1,778 cr in FY25

At a time when the rural tap water supply scheme has expanded rapidly, a Central government-funded scheme to check decline in groundwater levels has failed miserably to utilise its Rs 1,778-crore allocation in 2024-25, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.

Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme in identified water stressed areas of 8,203 Gram Panchayats under 229 blocks in 80 districts of seven states, has managed to utilise only Rs 71.24 crore out of Rs 1,778 crore till November 25 in the current financial year, show fresh data issued by the Jal Shakti Ministry.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Choudhary indicated that the scheme, under implementation in Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, has used just over 4 per cent of its annual allocation in the first eight months of the financial year.

Sharing data in reply to a question asked by BJP MP Haribhai Patel, the MoS said the scheme utilised Rs 1,738.21 crore out of Rs 1,774.57 crore in 2023-24; Rs 637.64 crore out of Rs 700 crore in 2022-23; Rs 327.48 crore out of Rs 330 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 123.03 crore out of Rs 125 crore in 2020-21.

However, in 2024-25, so far, the Atal Bhujal Yojana has utilised an insignificant Rs 71.24 crore out of an allocation of Rs 1,778 crore.

In comparison, the tapped water supply scheme for villages has performed well by covering almost 80 per cent of rural households.

The MoS said the Central government, in partnership with states, is implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) from August 2019 for rural areas.

“At the time of the announcement of the Mission, only 3.23 crore (17 per cent) rural households had tap water supply. Since the launch of the Mission, more than 12.09 crore have been provided with tap water connection as on December 3, 2024. Thus, out of 19.34 crore rural households, around 15.33 crore (79.24 per cent) rural households are presently getting tap water supply,” he said.

Highlighting the strides made in supply of tapped water in urban areas, the MoS said that in 2015 the Centre launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) which focusses on development of basic urban infrastructure, especially, water supply and access to tap connection to every household in 500 cities.

“So far 1,390 projects worth Rs 43,241.8 crore have been grounded, including 1,180 completed projects worth Rs 29,310 crore. Through these projects and in convergence with other programmes, 1.89 crore household water tap connections have been provided,” he said.

Taking it forward, AMRUT 2.0 was launched in 2021 which covers all the statutory towns of the country to ensure universal coverage of water supply and make cities 'water secure’.

“For availability of quality water supply, so far, 3,596 projects worth Rs 1,14,073.65 crore have been approved by the Apex Committee at Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,” said Choudhary.