India’s First Water Bodies Census
On April 25, 2023, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has released the report of India’s first water bodies census, a comprehensive data base of ponds, tanks, lakes, and reservoirs in the country.
| Rank | Ponds | Tanks | Lakes | Reservoirs | Water Conversation/Check Dams |
| 1 | West Bengal | Andhra Pradesh | Tamil Nadu | West Bengal | Mahrashtra |
| 2 | Uttar Pradesh | Odisha | Bihar | Jharkhand | Andhra Pradesh |
| 3 | Assam | Himachal Pradesh | Karnataka | Bihar | Gujarat |
| 4 | Odisha | Tamil Nadu | West Bengal | Odisha | Telangana |
| 5 | Jharkhand | Gujarat | Odisha | Andhra Pradesh | Jharkhand |
The census was conducted in 2018-19, and enumerated more than 2.4 million water bodies across all states and Union Territories.
About India’s first water bodies census
- Released on: April 25, 2023
- Released by: Ministry of Jal Shakti
Key Highlights
- 24,24,540 water bodies 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.
- 59.5% (14,42,993) of water bodies are ponds, followed by tanks (15.7%, ie 3,81,805), reservoirs (12.1%, ie 2,92,280), Water conservation schemes/ percolation tanks/check dams (9.3%, i.e 2,26,217), lakes (0.9%, ie 22,361) and others (2.5%, ie 58,884).
- West Bengal has highest number of ponds & reservoirs, whereas Andhra Pradesh has highest number of tanks, Tamil Nadu has highest number of lakes and Maharashtra is the leading state for water conservation scheme..
- Top Five states in number of water bodies are as follows-
| State | Percent |
| West Bengal | 30.08% (7,47,480) |
| Uttar Pradesh | 10.01% (2,45,087) |
| Andhra Pradesh | 7.9% (1,90,777) |
| Odisha | 7.5% (1,81,837) |
| Assam | 7.1%(1,72,492) |