Jal Shakti Ministry Releases First Ever Census on Water Bodies in India
The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti conducted the first-ever census of water bodies across the nation, in order to have a comprehensive national database of all water bodies..
The basic objective of this census was to:
provide a comprehensive inventory of India’s water resources, including natural and man-made water bodies like ponds, tanks, lakes, and more,
collect data on the encroachment of water bodies,
highlight disparities between rural and urban areas and varying levels of encroachment,
reveal crucial insights into the country’s water resources
The key features of the Census
24,24,540 water bodies have been enumerated in the country. Of these, 97.1% (23,55,055) are in rural areas and only 2.9% (69,485) are in urban areas.
Top 05 States in terms of number of water bodies (constituting around 63% of the total water bodies)
West Bengal,
Uttar Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh,
Odisha
Assam
Top 05 States in terms of number of water bodies in urban areas – West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura
Top 05 States in terms of number of water bodies in rural areas – West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam.
59.5% of water bodies are ponds, followed by tanks (15.7%), reservoirs (12.1%), Water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams (9.3%), lakes (0.9%) and others (2.5%).
55.2% of water bodies are owned by private entities whereas 44.8% of water bodies are under public ownership.
Among public owned water bodies, maximum water bodies are owned by Panchayats, followed by State Irrigation/State WRD.
Among all private owned water bodies, maximum water bodies are owned by Individual owner/farmer followed by group of individuals and other private bodies.
Top 05 States which lead in the private owned water bodies – West Bengal, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand.
Among all ‘in use’ water bodies, mostly water bodies are used in pisciculture followed by Irrigation.
Top 05 States with major use of water bodies in pisciculture – West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh;
Top 05 States with major use of water bodies in irrigation – Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat.
78% water bodies are man-made water bodies whereas 22% are natural water bodies.
1.6% (38,496) water bodies out of all the enumerated water bodies are reported to be encroached. Out of them, 95.4% are in rural areas and remaining 4.6% in urban areas.
Union Minister for Jal Shakti – Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
