Question raised in Lok Sabha on Hydro-Power Projects, 10/03/2016. Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its judgment dated 13.08.2013, directed not to grant Environment & Forest Clearances to the 24 Hydro-Electric Schemes located in Ganga river basin, as per details given in Annex-I. Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has directed the Central Water Commission (CWC) not to appraise the Detailed Projects Reports (DPRs) of Hydro-Electric Schemes in Ganga river basin till the report of the Committee to determine the quantum of minimum E-flow is finalized.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Funds under SBM, 10/03/2016. Under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) {SBM(G)}, the programmatic projects are sanctioned district-wise. Currently, 643 district sanitation projects have been sanctioned. The State/UT wise details is at Annexure 1. (e) Since Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) is demand driven programme, hence State/UT-wise targets are not fixed. State/UT-wise, number of Individual household latrines constructed from 2.10.2014 to 7.3.2016 as per the data uploaded by the States on the Online Monitoring System maintained by Ministry is at Annexure-2.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Drinking Water in SC/ST dominated Areas, 10/03/2016. State / UT-wise details of funds released and utilized along with details of achievements (Nos. of habitations) made in SC & ST dominated areas including States of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha during last three years and current year are at Annexure-I & II respectively. Under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) {SBM(G)}, the projects are sanctioned districtwise. Currently, 643 district sanitation projects have been sanctioned. The State/UT wise details is at Annexure-III.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Development of Rivers Under NRCP, 10/03/2016. NRCP (excluding Ganga and its tributaries) has covered polluted stretches of 31 rivers in 75 towns spread over 14 States at a sanctioned cost of Rs.4517.82 crore. Execution of sanctioned works under NRCP is carried out by the implementing agencies of the State Governments. The State-wise details and names of rivers covered under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) in given in annexure 1.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Sewage Treatment Plants, 08/03/2016. As per the report published by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in March, 2015, the sewage generation from urban areas in the country is estimated at around 62,000 million litres per day (mld), whereas the total sewage treatment capacity available is only 23,277 mld, or 37% of the sewage generation. The State-wise details of sewage generation from urban areas and corresponding treatment capacity available is at Annexure-I.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Polluted River Stretches, 08/03/2016. Discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities / towns and industrial effluents constitute a major source of pollution in rivers. As per the report published by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in February 2015, 302 polluted river stretches have been identified on 275 rivers based on Bio-chemical
Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, a key indicator of organic pollution. The State-wise details are at Annexure.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Human-Animal Conflicts, 08/03/2016. The details of incidents of tiger attacks on human beings during the last three years and current year, in and around tiger reserves, as reported by States, State-wise, are at Annexure-I. Under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, funding assistance is given to the tiger range States / tiger reserves, based on their demand in the Annual Plan of Operation for various activities which, interalia includes provision for ex-gratia payment / mitigation of human-wildlife conflict.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Forest Cover, 08/03/2016. Forest Survey of India, Dehradun is carrying out the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in India State of Forest Report. The latest report in the series is India State of Forest Report 2015. As per this report, the total forest cover of the country is 7,01,673 square kilometers which is 21.34% of the total geographical area of the country. There is a net increase of 3775 square kilometers in the forest cover of the country as compared with India State of Forest Report-2013.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Environmental Clearances, 08/03/2016. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in consultation with Central Pollution Control Board has reclassified the industries into “red”, “orange”, “green” and “white” based on the score of pollution load (index). For the new category of “white” industry, which is practically non-polluting will not require Environmental Clearance and Consent. A list of white category of industries is annexed as Annexure – A.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Drought Assistance, 08/03/2016. During the year 2015-16, Karnataka (both for Kharif and Rabi), Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, had submitted Memoranda seeking financial assistance from National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) in the wake of drought. On receipt of such memoranda, Government of India constituted Inter-Ministerial Central Teams(IMCTs) to visit the drought affected areas of these States for an assessment of the requirement for the quantum of financial assistance.