A government report released last week has thrown light on the number of water bodies in India and what they are used for. The document, which was released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, is the first such census of water bodies in India. The census has identified 24,24,540 water bodies in India.
Water bodies in this census are defined as any natural or man-made structures used for storing water for various purposes, such as irrigation, industry, fish farming, domestic use, recreation, religious activities, and groundwater recharge. They are classified as tanks, reservoirs and ponds. A structure that collects water from melting ice, streams, springs, rain, or drainage from residential or other areas, or stores water diverted from a stream, nala, or river, is also considered a water body.
Chart 1| The chart shows the types of water bodies (in %) across India
Charts appear incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode
As shown in Chart 1 , ponds comprise 59.5% (1,442,993) of water bodies, followed by tanks at 15.7% (381,805), reservoirs at 12.1% (292,280), water conservation projects such as percolation tanks and check dams at 9.3% (226,217), lakes at 0.9% (22,361), and other types at 2.5% (58,884).
West Bengal boasts of the highest number of ponds and reservoirs; Andhra Pradesh the highest number of tanks; and Tamil Nadu the highest number of lakes (Map 2). Maharashtra leads in terms of water conservation initiatives. A mobile application designed for this task was used to capture pictures of the water bodies along with their latitude and longitude coordinates.
Map 2 | The map shows the location of the ponds, lakes, tanks, reservoirs and water conservation schemes. Each dot corresponds with approximately 500 such water bodies.
The majority of water bodies serve as resources for fish farming, with their subsequent uses including irrigation, replenishing groundwater, and providing water for household and drinking needs. Among the total 20,30,040 utilised water bodies, 55.5% (11,26,830) are dedicated to fish farming, 16.5% (3,35,768) to irrigation, 12.1% (2,44,918) to groundwater replenishment, and 10.1% (2,05,197) to domestic and drinking water needs. The remaining are employed for recreational, industrial, religious and other purposes.
Chart 3 | The chart shows the usage of water bodies (in %) across States
In general, the east and the northeast use most of the water bodies for fish farming. More than 50% of the water bodies are used for fish farming in the north-eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam and the eastern States of West Bengal and Odisha (Chart 3). Over 50% of the water bodies are used for irrigation in Gujarat, Telangana, Karnataka and Jharkhand. In Manipur and Himachal Pradesh, more than 50% are used for drinking. Industrial usage is minimal in all the States. Over 10% of the water bodies in Sikkim are used for recreational purposes. Over 50% of the water bodies are used for groundwater recharge in Uttarakhand, Punjab and Maharashtra.
Click to subscribe to our Data newsletter
A substantial 97.1% of water bodies can be found in rural regions; only 2.9% are situated in urban areas. Of these, 83.7% are in use, while the rest are non-functional or unused due to factors such as construction, siltation, irreparable damage, and industrial effluents, among others. Of the total water bodies, 55.2%are privately owned; the rest are publicly owned. A significant number (78%) of water bodies are artificially created. A total of 1.6% water bodies have been encroached upon, of which 67.6% are ponds, 21% are tanks, and 4.5% involve water conservation schemes, check dams, or percolation tanks. The remaining 6.9% comprise lakes, reservoirs, and other types of water bodies.
Source: First census on water bodies released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti
Also read: Preserving the precious: On ground water use
Listen to our Data podcast: Who Will Watch the Watchers: Are CCTV cameras silent protectors or privacy invaders
