Per capita water availability

In news : Recently, the Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti in a written reply in Rajya Sabha  mentioned about Per capita water availability in the country

Key highlights

• Water availability per person is dependent on the population of the country and for India, per capita water availability in the country is reducing due to increase in population. 
• Reducing per capita water: The average annual per capita water availability in the years 2001 and 2011 was assessed as 1816 cubic meters and 1545 cubic meters respectively which may further reduce to 1486 cubic meters and 1367 cubic meters in the years 2021 and 2031 respectively.
• Benchmark: As per Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 135 litre per capita per day (lpcd) has been suggested as the benchmark for urban water supply. 
• For rural areas, a minimum service delivery of 55 lpcd has been fixed under Jal Jeevan Mission, which may be enhanced to higher level by states.
• As mentioned in the report of National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (NCIWRD), the percentage of water used for irrigation out of the total water use for the year 1997-98 was 83.30%. 
• Further, as per NCIWRD report, the percentage of water used for irrigation out of the total water use for the year 2025 under high demand scenario was estimated as 72.48%.

Various initiatives of the government related water 

• Water being a State subject, steps for augmentation, conservation and efficient management of water resources are primarily undertaken by the respective State Governments.
• In order to supplement the efforts of the State Governments, Central Government provides technical and financial assistance to them through various schemes and programmes.
• Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) – a campaign for water conservation and water security. 
• During the campaign, officers, groundwater experts and scientists from the Government of India worked together with State and district officials in India’s most water-stressed districts for water conservation and water resource management.
• Central Government has formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Water Resources Development which envisages transfer of water from water surplus basins to water deficit basins to improve availability of water.
• Government of India has launched Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) on 25th June, 2015 in select 500 cities across the country for a period of five years i.e. from 2015-16 to 2019-20 with focus on development of basic civic amenities in the Mission cities. 
• Under the water supply component of the Mission, projects related to rain water harvesting, rejuvenation of water bodies specifically for drinking water supply, recharging of ground water, etc., can be taken up by the States/UTs to enhance water supply in the Mission cities.
• The Government of India has launched Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which aims at providing functional household tap connections to every rural household by 2024 at the service level of 55 litre per capita per day. 
• This Mission will focus on integrated demand and supply side management of water at the local level, including creation of local infrastructure for source sustainability like rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and management of household wastewater for reuse in agriculture