Nearly Twenty Thousand Water Bodies in Odisha Are Drying up and of No Use

As per the census, the top five states in terms of the number of water bodies are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam, which constitute around 63% of the total water bodies in the country.

In terms of ponds, Odisha has come fourth at the all-India level and third as far as water tanks are concerned. The report further said that Odisha was in the fifth position in the census of lakes and fourth in reservoirs.

The census also found that 89.2% (1,62,207) of water bodies are in use, whereas the rest, 10.8% (19,630), are not in use on account of drying up, siltation, salinity, destruction beyond repair and other reasons. Out of ‘in use’ water bodies, a major proportion of water bodies are used in pisciculture, followed by irrigation.

It was also found that only 3% (5,445) of the water bodies in Odisha are covered in the district irrigation plan/state irrigation plan. Among these, 44.9% (2,444) are tanks, 39.1% (2,129) are ponds, and the remaining 16.0% (872) are lakes, reservoirs, water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams etc.

In the first census of water bodies, 1,81,837 water bodies have been enumerated in the state of Odisha, out of which 97.9% (1,78,054) are in rural areas, and the remaining 2.1% (3,783) are in urban areas.

Similarly, 50.9% (92,575) of water bodies are privately owned, whereas the remaining 49.1% (89,262) are under public ownership.

There are a total of 7,109 natural and 1,74,728 man-made water bodies in the state. Out of 7,109 natural water bodies, 97.3% (6,915) are located in rural areas, whereas the remaining 2.7% (194) are located in urban areas.

Out of 1,74,728 man-made water bodies, 97.9% (1,71,139) water bodies are located in rural areas, and the remaining 2.1% (3,589) are located in urban areas.

Commenting on the census report, Ranjan Panda, a water activist popularly known as the waterman of Odisha, said the state has such a large number of water bodies because zamindars and community leaders have dug many ponds in rural areas across the state. Besides, several water bodies have been created under government schemes and programmes.

However, the government needs to come up with a specific policy or programme for the conservation and redevelopment of water bodies, he said.

Apart from the above, there is a need to conduct another survey of the water bodies which were destroyed or dried up. Accordingly, an action plan should be prepared for the revival of such water bodies, suggested Panda.

**

The above article has been published from a wire source with minimal modifications to the headline and text.