Lok Sabha Question No. 2482 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-03
Subject: Census of Water Bodies
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Karti P. Chidambaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2482

## ANSWERED ON 03.08.2023

## CENSUS OF WATER BODIES

## 2482. SHRI KARTI P. CHIDAMBARAM

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the fact that the recently conducted water census has revealed a huge disparity between rural and urban areas in terms of water bodies;

(b)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  taking  any  steps  to  address  this  disparity  and  if  so,  the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the Government had any reasons to keep the scope of the census restricted and not include panchayats and other local bodies in the census of water bodies and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d) whether the Government would consider including panchayats, municipalities and local bodies in the future water surveys?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI ( SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU )

(a) & (b) Ministry of Jal Shakti launched the first census of water bodies in convergence with the sixth  minor  irrigation  census  (reference  year  2017-18),  under  the  centrally  sponsored  scheme  'Irrigation Census'. The objective of the census of water bodies is to develop a national database for all water  bodies  by  collecting  information  on  all  important  aspects  of  the  subject  including  their  size, condition, status of encroachments, use, storage capacity etc. In the first census of water bodies, a total of  24,24,540  water  bodies  were  reported  in  the  country  out  of  which  23,55,055  water  bodies  are  in Rural areas and 69,485 water bodies are in Urban areas. State-wise information on number of water bodies  in  rural  and  urban  area  as  available  from  the  first  census  of  water  bodies  is  given  in  the Annexure.

The lesser proportion of water bodies in the urban areas is quite obvious since the urban areas have undergone  expansions  and  infrastructural  development  which  might  have  caused  depletion  of  water bodies. Water being a State subject, steps for augmentation, conservation and efficient management of water resources are primarily undertaken by respective State Governments. In order to supplement the efforts  of  the  State  Governments,  Central  Government provides  technical  and  financial  assistance  to them through various schemes and programmes.

(c) & (d) 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 (e.g. industrial, pisciculture, domestic/drinking, recreation, religious, ground water recharge etc.) were treated as water bodies in the first census of water bodies. All such water bodies were enumerated in rural as well as urban areas as per the master data provided by the States/UTs at the time of launch of the census.

The  first  census  of  water  bodies  was  conducted  in  convergence  with  the  sixth  Minor  Irrigation census. As per usual practice, the census was conducted by the State/UT Governments through nodal department identified in each State /UT for this purpose.The primary work of collection of data was carried out by the enumerators who were either village level workers or village accountants or Lekhpals or Patwaries or any other official designated by the State/UT Government. The overall quality of field work was monitored by Block/District level/ State level officers.

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2482 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 03.08.2023 REGARDING 'CENSUS OF WATER BODIES'

## State-wise number of water bodies reported in the first Census of Water bodies

| S.    | States/UTs               | No. of Water bodies   | No. of Water bodies   | No. of Water bodies   |
|-------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|
| no.   |                          | Rural                 | Urban                 | Total                 |
| 1     | Andaman& Nicobar Islands | 3497                  | 31                    | 3528                  |
| 2     | Andhra Pradesh           | 190263                | 514                   | 190777                |
| 3     | Arunachal Pradesh        | 893                   | 100                   | 993                   |
| 4     | Assam                    | 170112                | 2380                  | 172492                |
| 5     | Bihar                    | 43831                 | 1962                  | 45793                 |
| 6     | Chandigarh               | 23                    | 165                   | 188                   |
| 7     | Chhattisgarh             | 33519                 | 481                   | 34000                 |
| 8     | Delhi                    | 849                   | 44                    | 893                   |
| 9     | Goa                      | 1406                  | 57                    | 1463                  |
| 10    | Gujarat                  | 53156                 | 913                   | 54069                 |
| 11    | Haryana                  | 14898                 | 0                     | 14898                 |
| 12    | Himachal Pradesh         | 87364                 | 653                   | 88017                 |
| 13    | Jammu& Kashmir           | 9687                  | 78                    | 9765                  |
| 14    | Jharkhand                | 106176                | 1422                  | 107598                |
| 15    | Karnataka                | 26224                 | 789                   | 27013                 |
| 16    | Kerala                   | 49725                 | 6009                  | 55734                 |
| 17    | Madhya Pradesh           | 81012                 | 1631                  | 82643                 |
| 18    | Maharashtra              | 96343                 | 719                   | 97062                 |
| 19    | Manipur                  | 1369                  | 289                   | 1658                  |
| 20    | Meghalaya                | 12798                 | 534                   | 13332                 |
| 21    | Mizoram                  | 1436                  | 749                   | 2185                  |
| 22    | Nagaland                 | 1287                  | 145                   | 1432                  |
| 23    | Odisha                   | 178054                | 3783                  | 181837                |
| 24    | Puducherry               | 1050                  | 121                   | 1171                  |
| 25    | Punjab                   | 15831                 | 181                   | 16012                 |
| 26    | Rajasthan                | 16750                 | 189                   | 16939                 |
| 27    | Sikkim                   | 122                   | 12                    | 134                   |
| 28    | Tamil Nadu               | 99414                 | 7543                  | 106957                |
| 29    | Telangana                | 63063                 | 992                   | 64055                 |
| 30    | Tripura                  | 32140                 | 4099                  | 36239                 |
| 31    | Uttarakhand              | 2970                  | 126                   | 3096                  |
| 32    | Uttar Pradesh            | 240139                | 4948                  | 245087                |
| 33    | West Bengal              | 719654                | 27826                 | 747480                |
| TOTAL | TOTAL                    | 2355055               | 69485                 | 2424540               |