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Ponds and lakes · State

Ponds and lakes in Maharashtra

898ponds, out of 97,062 water bodies

The 1st Census of Water Bodies counted 97,062 water bodies in Maharashtra. 1,029 of them were not in use and 251 had been encroached upon. Pick a district below to see its ponds on a map, village by village.

What the census counted in Maharashtra

1,029 of 97,062 water bodies (1%) are not in use: dried up, silted, built over or polluted. Bringing them back is one of the cheapest ways to recharge groundwater.

97,062ponds, tanks, lakes and other water bodies
898of them are ponds (1%)
99%still in use (96,033)
251encroached upon
  • Ponds898
  • Tanks3,797
  • Lakes350
  • Reservoirs358
  • Check dams and percolation tanks90,023
  • Others1,636

Source: 1st Census of Water Bodies, Ministry of Jal Shakti (counted in 2018-19, published 2023).

Ponds in each district of Maharashtra

Districts ranked by number of ponds. The bar shows ponds; the line under each name shows all water bodies and how many are not in use.

  1. 1Raigad1,750 water bodies, 9% not in use321
  2. 2Nashik6,137 water bodies, 2% not in use112
  3. 3Thane1,278 water bodies, 0% not in use73
  4. 4Nanded2,724 water bodies, 0% not in use50
  5. 5Beed4,235 water bodies, 2% not in use41
  6. 6Kolhapur1,338 water bodies, 0% not in use40
  7. 7Osmanabad3,272 water bodies, 0% not in use35
  8. 8Palghar1,204 water bodies, 3% not in use35
  9. 9Solapur3,338 water bodies, 0% not in use29
  10. 10Pune3,680 water bodies, 0% not in use25
  11. 11Satara3,756 water bodies, 0% not in use24
  12. 12Hingoli1,657 water bodies, 0% not in use20
  13. 13Sindhudurg574 water bodies, 5% not in use20
  14. 14Ahmednagar4,994 water bodies, 1% not in use13
  15. 15Ratnagiri795 water bodies, 1% not in use13
  16. 16Sangli2,280 water bodies, 0% not in use11
  17. 17Nandurbar3,009 water bodies, 6% not in use10
  18. 18Jalgaon3,071 water bodies, 6% not in use9
  19. 19Latur2,186 water bodies, 0% not in use5
  20. 20Dhule3,557 water bodies, 4% not in use4
  21. 21Aurangabad5,683 water bodies, 0% not in use3
  22. 22Chandrapur4,878 water bodies, 0% not in use2
  23. 23Gondia4,100 water bodies, 0% not in use2
  24. 24Amravati1,699 water bodies, 0% not in use1
  25. 25Jalna5,319 water bodies, 0% not in use0
  26. 26Buldhana3,611 water bodies, 0% not in use0
  27. 27Nagpur3,269 water bodies, 0% not in use0
  28. 28Gadchiroli3,028 water bodies, 0% not in use0
  29. 29Bhandara2,720 water bodies, 1% not in use0
  30. 30Yawatmal2,316 water bodies, 0% not in use0
  31. 31Washim2,111 water bodies, 0% not in use0
  32. 32Parbhani1,688 water bodies, 0% not in use0
  33. 33Wardha1,372 water bodies, 0% not in use0
  34. 34Akola433 water bodies, 0% not in use0

Groundwater in Maharashtra

Ponds are one way rain gets back into the ground. See how hard Maharashtra is pumping its groundwater, district by district.

Groundwater level in Maharashtra

Bringing a pond in Maharashtra back

Most ponds that are not in use can be revived. The work is the same in a village or a city sector:

Step 1

Survey

Map the pond's full original area, its inlets and its catchment, and record encroachments and sewage outfalls.

Step 2

Desilt

Dig out the silt that has sealed the bed, so water soaks into the ground again instead of evaporating.

Step 3

Reconnect

Clear and line the channels that bring rain in, with a silt trap before the pond; divert sewage away from it.

Step 4

Recharge

Add recharge shafts or wells in the bed where the soil is tight, so water reaches the aquifer faster.

Step 5

Protect

Fence or plant the banks, mark the boundary and hand upkeep to the panchayat or residents' body.

Talk to TerraSetu about a pondPond rejuvenation: cost and processOther ways to recharge

Frequently asked questions

How many ponds are there in Maharashtra?

The 1st Census of Water Bodies (Ministry of Jal Shakti, counted in 2018-19, published 2023) counted 898 ponds in Maharashtra, out of 97,062 water bodies in all.

How many lakes are there in Maharashtra?

The 1st Census of Water Bodies counted 350 lakes and 358 reservoirs in Maharashtra, along with 3,797 tanks.

How many water bodies in Maharashtra are not in use?

1,029 of the 97,062 water bodies (1%) were not in use when counted: dried up, silted, cut off from their catchment, polluted or built over. 251 had been encroached upon.

Which district of Maharashtra has the most ponds?

Raigad, with 321 ponds and 1,750 water bodies in all, according to the 1st Census of Water Bodies.

How do ponds help groundwater in Maharashtra?

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.