Water Census report: West Bengal tops list with most reservoirs; Kerala ranks 12

By Aishwarya Nair | First Published Apr 21, 2023, 2:36 PM IST

The census's goal is to create a comprehensive national database of all water bodies by gathering data on all relevant factors, such as their use, size, condition, level of encroachment, and storage capacity.

Thiruvananthapuram: In accordance with the Sixth Minor Irrigation Census (the reference year 2017–18), the Centrally Sponsored Scheme known as the "Irrigation Census" was launched by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti. The census's goal is to create a comprehensive national database of all water bodies by gathering data on all relevant factors, such as their use, size, condition, level of encroachment, and storage capacity.

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West Bengal has topped the list of the highest number of ponds and reservoirs. Kerala is in the 12th position.

The census also collected data on the encroachment of water bodies for the first time.

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1.6% of water bodies are reported to be encroached, out of which 95.4% are in rural areas and the remaining 4.6% are in urban areas. According to the report, Kerala has also encroached upon 111 water bodies. 87 percent of these are ponds. Encroachment has taken place in 1.6 percent of the country's total water bodies. According to the figures released by the Centre, 95 percent of these are in rural areas.

There are 49725 water bodies in Kerala. Among the 30 districts with the largest number of water bodies, there is not a single district from Kerala. West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas has been ranked as the top district having the highest (3.55 lakh) number of water bodies across the country.

Tamil Nadu has the highest number of lakes and Maharashtra is the leading state with water conservation schemes.

India has 24.24 lakh water bodies like ponds, tanks and lakes, with West Bengal accounting for the most (7.47 lakh) and Sikkim the least (!34), according to the report of the first census of waterbodies released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

According to the research, "24,24,540 waterbodies have been enumerated in the country, out of which 97.1% (23,55,055) are in rural areas and only 2.9% (69,485) are in urban areas."

The census defines a waterbody as “all natural or man-made units bounded on all sides with some or no masonry work used for storing water for irrigation or other purposes (example industrial, pisciculture, domestic/drinking, recreation, religious, ground water recharge etc)”

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