Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The nation’s water bodies have undergone their first-ever census, thanks to the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The census gathers information on the invasion of water bodies. It gives a thorough inventory of India’s water resources, including both natural and artificial water bodies including ponds, tanks, lakes, and more. The Census also provided important information on the nation’s water supplies and highlighted differences between rural and urban areas as well as various degrees of encroachment.
According to the census, Odisha is one of the top five states, accounting for 63% of all water bodies in the nation. The states of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Assam have the most water bodies. The census, which was carried out in 2018–19, also brought attention to differences between rural and urban regions, and different degrees of encroachment, and provided essential details about the nation’s water resources.
In order to create a complete national database of all water bodies, the census was launched as part of the government-supported “Irrigation Census” project in conjunction with the 6th Minor Irrigation Census. Information was gathered on all significant characteristics of the water bodies, such as type, condition, encroachment status, use, storage capacity, and state of filling up of storage, among others. It included all water bodies, whether they were used or not, and whether they were in urban or rural regions.
The census also considered all uses of water, including irrigation, business, fishing, domestic/drinking, leisure, religion, and groundwater recharge, among others. The census was successfully completed, and the State-by-State and All-India reports have been released.
