India’s First Water Bodies Census
Recently, the Ministry of Jal Shakti released the report of India’s first water bodies census, a comprehensive data base of ponds, tanks, lakes, and reservoirs in the country.
- The census was conducted in 2018-19, and enumerated 24, 24,540 water bodies across the country.
Key Findings
- Number of Water Bodies: Out of the 24,24,540 water bodies enumerated, 97.1% (23,55,055) are in rural areas and only 2.9% (69,485) are in urban areas.
- Types of Water Bodies: 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%).
- Top 5 States: The top ....

