Survey
Map the pond's full original area, its inlets and its catchment, and record encroachments and sewage outfalls.
The 1st Census of Water Bodies counted 994 ponds, tanks, lakes and other water bodies in Jhajjar district. 492 of them (49%) were not in use and 4 had been encroached upon. Jhajjar has the 4th most ponds of the 22 districts in Haryana the census counted.
492 of 994 water bodies (49%) are not in use: dried up, silted, built over or polluted. Bringing them back is one of the cheapest ways to recharge groundwater.
Loading the map of water bodies in Jhajjar…
Source: 1st Census of Water Bodies, Ministry of Jal Shakti (counted in 2018-19, published 2023).
Haryana mapped its ponds from satellite images in 2023, so its count differs from the census, which recorded water bodies on the ground in 2018-19. It also counts the tube wells that pump groundwater for irrigation.
Source: Haryana Water Resources Atlas 2025, Haryana Water Resources Authority. Ponds and water bodies mapped from satellite data in 2023 (Pond Authority Haryana, HARSAC); irrigation tube wells counted in 2022-23 (Ground Water Cell, Haryana).
Jhajjar pumps out 50% of the groundwater that can safely be taken out each year (2025, Central Ground Water Board), which the board rates safe. Working ponds are a large part of what keeps it there, by letting rain soak back into the ground.
Most ponds that are not in use can be revived. The work is the same in a village or a city sector:
Map the pond's full original area, its inlets and its catchment, and record encroachments and sewage outfalls.
Dig out the silt that has sealed the bed, so water soaks into the ground again instead of evaporating.
Clear and line the channels that bring rain in, with a silt trap before the pond; divert sewage away from it.
Add recharge shafts or wells in the bed where the soil is tight, so water reaches the aquifer faster.
Fence or plant the banks, mark the boundary and hand upkeep to the panchayat or residents' body.
The 1st Census of Water Bodies (Ministry of Jal Shakti, counted in 2018-19, published 2023) counted 976 ponds in Jhajjar district, out of 994 water bodies in all. Haryana's own satellite mapping in 2023 found 2,149 ponds covering 3,299 acres; the counts differ because one was surveyed on the ground and the other from space. That is the 4th most ponds of 22 districts in Haryana counted by the census.
The 1st Census of Water Bodies counted 3 lakes and 8 reservoirs in Jhajjar district, along with 5 tanks. Haryana's 2023 satellite mapping counts 776 water bodies other than ponds, such as lakes and tanks, covering 1,315 acres.
492 of the 994 water bodies (49%) were not in use when counted: dried up, silted, cut off from their catchment, polluted or built over. 4 had been encroached upon.
A working pond holds rain long enough for it to soak into the ground and refill wells and borewells nearby. A silted or encroached pond sends that rain down the drain instead. Desilting, reopening inlets and adding recharge shafts in the pond bed are among the cheapest ways to recharge groundwater.
In the 2025 Central Ground Water Board assessment, Jhajjar district pumped out 50% of the groundwater that can safely be taken out each year ("safe").
Districts ranked by number of ponds in the 1st Census of Water Bodies.