Enumerates 1432 water bodies in Nagaland
Mokokchung, 23 April (MTNews): For the first time in the history of the country, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has conducted the first-ever census of water bodies across the country.
The census enumerated 24, 24,540 water bodies in the country and reveals crucial insights into the country’s water resources.
According to the census, Nagaland has 1432 water bodies enumerated, out of which 89.87 per cent are in rural areas and the remaining are in urban areas.
Majority of the water bodies are ponds. 94.13 per cent of water bodies in Nagaland are privately owned and the remaining are under public ownership which reflects the dominance of private entities in ownership of water bodies in the state.
According to the census, the State has 688 natural and 744 man-made water bodies.
Out of all water bodies in the state, only 11 water bodies are covered in the District Irrigation Plan or State Irrigation Plan.
1166 water bodies in the state are used for pisciculture while 109 is used for irrigation and 22 in industrial use.
Top five States in terms of number of water bodies are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam which constitute around 63 per cent of the total water bodies in the country.
59.5 percent of water bodies are ponds, followed by tanks 15.7 per cent; reservoirs 12.1 percent; Water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams 9.3 percent; lakes 0.9 percent and others 2.5 percent.