Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched the first Census of Water Bodies in convergence with the Sixth Minor Irrigation Census.  As per currently available data, the provisional figure of State-wise number of water bodies is provided in Annexure A.

Guidelines for Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies (RRR of WBs) component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)-Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP), under which this Ministry is providing financial assistance to States for identified schemes, have been issued in January, 2022. These guidelines provide details regarding basic features of the scheme, funding pattern and the eligibility criteria for funding, planning and implementation of projects, procedure for submission of proposals and release of funds, and monitoring and evaluation arrangements under the scheme. The guidelines are available under the URL http://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/policies-guideline/guidelines.

Central Pollution Control Board has issued “Indicative Guidelines for Restoration of Water Bodies”, which give general recommendations on augmenting capacity of water bodies and on improvement of water quality in them. These guidelines are available at URL https://cpcb.nic.in/wqm/Ind-Guidelines-RestWaterBodies.pdf  

Apart from issuing guidelines and providing financial assistance under RRR of WBs scheme mentioned above, some of the major initiatives taken by Government of India for conservation and restoration of water bodies in the country, are listed below:

 1.Rejuvenation of water bodies is also a component under water supply sector of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme under Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. AMRUT 2.0, launched in October, 2021.

2.In 2019, Jal Shakti Abhiyan was launched by the Government. This was followed in 2021, by “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain” (JSA:CTR) campaign. The JSA:CTR campaign for the year 2022 has been launched in March 2022, in all districts (rural as well as urban) of the country. The main theme of the campaign is “Catch the Rain, where it falls, when it falls”. Focused interventions under these annual campaigns taken up by the Government of India and the State Governments, inter alia, include renovation of traditional and other water bodies/ tanks, enumeration, geo-tagging and making inventory of all water bodies, and removal of encroachments of tanks/ lakes, and de-silting of tanks.

3.Mission on Amrit Sarovar, aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, has been launched in April, 2022. The Mission works through the States and districts, through refocusing of various ongoing schemes of the Government, as well as inclusion of citizen and non Government resources. The Mission is to be completed by 15th August 2023.

4.Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) has provision for public works relating to natural resource management, including water conservation and water harvesting structures to augment ground water.

Planning, funding, execution and maintenance of water bodies, including their restoration, rejuvenation and conservation, is addressed by the State Government concerned.  Government of India provides technical support and in some cases, partial financial assistance under the existing schemes, to facilitate the State Governments.

This information was given by the Minister of State, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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ANNEXURE-A

STATE-WISE NUMBER OF WATER BODIES REPORTED IN THE FIRST CENSUS OF WATER BODIES (PROVISIONAL)

S.No.	States/UTs	Total number of water bodies reported
(1)	(2)	(3)
1	ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS	3,528
2	ANDHRA PRADESH	1,90,777
3	ARUNACHAL PRADESH	993
4	ASSAM	1,72,492
5	BIHAR	45,793
6	CHANDIGARH	188
7	CHHATISGARH	34,000
8	GOA	1,463
9	GUJARAT	54,069
10	HARYANA	14,898
11	HIMACHAL PRADESH	88,017
12	JAMMU & KASHMIR	9,765
13	JHARKHAND	1,07,598
14	KERALA	55,734
15	MAHARASHTRA	97,062
16	MANIPUR	1,658
17	MEGHALAYA	13,332
18	MIZORAM	2,185
19	NAGALAND	1,432
20	ODISHA	1,81,837
21	PUDUCHERRY	1,171
22	PUNJAB	16,012
23	RAJASTHAN	16,939
24	SIKKIM	134
25	TAMIL NADU	1,06,957
26	TELENGANA	64,056
27	TRIPURA	36,239
28	UTTARAKHAND	3,096
29	UTTAR PRADESH	2,45,088
30	WEST BENGAL	7,47,480
31	KARNATAKA*	19,351
32	MADHYA PRADESH*	97,285

*The data entry and validation is nearing completion in these States/UTs

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