India;s first water bodies census

I M BU THE INSTIGATOR May 09, 2023

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The Ministry of Jal Shakti has released the report of India’s first water bodies census

✅It is a comprehensive database of ponds, tanks, lakes, and reservoirs in the country.

✅The census was conducted in 2018-19, and enumerated more than 2.4 million water bodies across all states and Union Territories.

● What was the need for a water bodies census?

✅The Centre earlier maintained a database of water bodies that were getting central assistance under the scheme of Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of water bodies.

✅In 2016, a Standing Committee of Parliament pointed to the need to carry out a separate census of water bodies.

✅The government then commissioned the first census of water bodies in 2018-19 along with the sixth Minor Irrigation (MI) census.

● How is a ‘water body’ defined?

✅The census defines a water body 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, groundwater recharge, etc).

✅Water bodies are usually of various types known by different names like tank, reservoirs, ponds etc.

✅A structure where water from ice-melt, streams, springs, rain or drainage of water from residential or other areas is accumulated will also be treated as a waterbody.

✅Water stored by diversion from a stream, nala or river will also be treated as a water body.

● Did the census cover all water bodies that fit this definition?

✅Seven specific types of water bodies were excluded from the count:

✅Oceans and lagoons.

✅Rivers, streams, springs, waterfalls, canals, etc. which are free flowing, without any bounded storage of water.

✅Swimming pools.

✅Covered water tanks created for a specific purpose by a family or household for their own consumption.

✅A water tank constructed by a factory owner for consumption of water as raw material or consumable.

✅Temporary water bodies created by digging for mining, brick kilns, and construction activities, which may get filled during the rainy season; and

✅Pucca open water tanks created only for cattle to drink water.

● Key findings of the India’s first water body census:

✅West Bengal’s South 24 Pargana has been ranked as the district having the highest (3.55 lakh) number of water bodies across the country.

✅The district is followed by Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur (50,537) and West Bengal’s Howrah (37,301).

● What does the census reveal about encroachment of water bodies?

✅The census found that 1.6% of enumerated water bodies -38,496 out of 24,24,540 had been encroached upon.

✅More than 95% of these were in rural areas.

✅In almost 63% of encroached water bodies, less than a quarter of the area was under encroachment; in about 12% water bodies, more than three-quarters of the area was under encroachment.

✅Uttar Pradesh accounted for almost 40% (15,301) of water bodies under encroachment, followed by Tamil Nadu (8,366) and Andhra Pradesh (3,920).

✅No encroachment was reported from West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh.

● Prelims take away:

✅Standing Committee of Parliament

✅Results of water bodies census

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