Dwindling traditional water bodies in eastern India: Prospects of revival for irrigation and other uses
- Bihar Journal of Public Administration
- 22(1-S), Jan-Jun, 2025: p.98-105
Eastern Indian states are water rich states. Historically, the region had abundance of traditional water bodies like ponds, tanks, kata, khata, ahar, pynes and nala etc which have dwindled fast in las few decades. The data reveals that the gap between demand and supply of water is widening in the country and Bihar remains in the severe category of the gap, which will have its economic, environmental, social and health implications. Further, in the eastern region of India, ground water development has not been at the desired level in the sharp contrast to other regions of India. The issue has been largely ignored by both policy masters and social scientists. Thus, there is urgent imperative to look for judicious and optimal use of the huge reserve of ground water resources in the region that can bring about sizable improvements in the economy of the region, which is basically agrarian. There should be appropriate policy reforms for conservation of ground water through revival of these traditional water bodies in the region. – Reproduced