Nagaland
Jal Shakti census: Nagaland has 1,432 water bodies
DIMAPUR — The Ministry of Jal Shakti has conducted the first-ever census of water bodies across the nation, which reveals crucial insights into the country’s water resources.
The census provides a comprehensive inventory of India’s water resources, including natural and man-made water bodies like ponds, tanks, lakes, and more, a PIB release stated.
According to the census, which enumerated over 24 lakh water bodies spread across the country, Nagaland state has 1,432 water bodies out of which 1,287 (89.87%) are located in rural areas and the remaining 145 (10.13%) in urban areas. Jal Shakti census
Majority of the water bodies in Nagaland are in the form of ponds (90.64%), 5.03% water bodies as tanks, 0.84% water bodies as lakes and 3.49% as water conservation.
Based on the data, it can be inferred that 1,348 (94.13%) of the water bodies in Nagaland are privately owned, while the remaining 84 (5.87%) are under public ownership, which indicates a significant predominance of private entities in owning water bodies.
Among the privately-owned water bodies, 1,021 (75.74%) are owned by individual farmers, the report stated.
Out of the total 1,432 water bodies, 1,425 are located in tribal areas while remaining 7 are under ‘Drought Prone Areas Programme’ and other areas.
The data also indicated that out of all the water bodies in Nagaland, 1,380 (96.37%) are currently “in use.” The remaining 52 (3.63% ) are “not in use” due to various reasons such as drying up, siltation, and others, while among the “in use” water bodies, pisciculture is the primary use, followed by irrigation and domestic/drinking purposes.
The state has 688 natural and 744 man-made water bodies and out of 688 natural water bodies, 623 (90.55%) water bodies are located in rural areas and the remaining 65 (9.45%) located in urban areas.
Of the 744 man-made water bodies in Nagaland, 664 (89.25%) are located in rural areas and the remaining 80 (10.75%) in urban areas. It is worth noting that most of these man-made water bodies were constructed at an original cost of up to INR 50,000, the report stated.
In the reference year 2017-18, out of the 1,382 water bodies in Nagaland, 202 (14.62%) had a fully-filled storage capacity, while 810 (58.61%) had storage capacity filled up to three-fourths level.
Additionally, 309 (22.36%) of the water bodies had storage capacity filled up to half level, and 46 (3.33%) had storage capacity filled up to one-fourth level and only 15 (1.08%) of the water bodies had nil or negligible storage capacity.
Based on the criteria of filling up of storage capacity during last 5 years, out of 1,382 water bodies, 367 (26.56%) water bodies are found to be filled up every year, 595 (43.05%) are usually filled up, 354 (25.62%) are rarely filled up and 66 (4.77%) are never filled up.
Among all the water bodies in Nagaland, only 11 are covered in either the District Irrigation Plan or State Irrigation Plan, of which eight are ponds and three are lakes. The state has reported encroachment in only one water body out of all the enumerated water bodies.
Regarding the water bodies that are “in use,” 1,373 (99.5%) are benefiting one city/town, while the remaining 7 (0.5%) are benefiting at least two cities/towns.
In terms of water spread area, 993 (69.34%) of the water bodies in Nagaland have an area less than 0.5 hectares, while (271 (18.92%) have an area between 0.5 and 1.0 hectares and with regard to storage capacity, 610 (42.60%) of the water bodies have a storage capacity between 1,000 and 10,000 cubic meters, while 243 (16.97%) have a storage capacity exceeding 10,000 cubic meters, the report stated.
The census was launched under the centrally sponsored scheme, “Irrigation Census” in convergence with the 6th Minor Irrigation Census in order to have a comprehensive national database of all water bodies. Jal Shakti census
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