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Newspaper Terms Simplified for IAS Prelims

Part 11

1. India’s first water body census

Water Body Census is a database of water bodies, which provides information about ponds, tanks, lakes and reservoirs in India. Conducted in 2018-19, the census is also the first time that such an exercise has been conducted in the country.

As per the water body census, “All natural or man-made units bounded on all sides with some or no masonry work used for storing water for irrigation or other purposes (e.g. industrial, pisciculture, domestic/drinking, recreation, religious, ground water recharge etc.) will be treated as water bodies in this Census. These are usually of various types known by different names like tank, reservoirs, ponds etc.”

“A structure where water from ice-melt, streams, springs, rain or drainage of water from residential or other areas is accumulated or water is stored by diversion from a stream, nala or river will also be treated as water body,” states the water body census report.

Does the census cover all water bodies?

No. Excluded from the coverage of the census are oceans, lagoons, river, stream, spring, waterfalls, canals, which are free flowing without any bounded storage of water; swimming pools; covered water tank created for specific purpose by any individual family or household for their sole consumption; water tank constructed by any factory owner for consumption of water as raw material or consumable; temporary water bodies created by digging for mining, brick kilns, and construction activities, which may get filled up during rainy season; and pucca open water tank created only for drinking for cattle.

What was the need for a water bodies census?

Earlier, the Centre used to maintain a database of only those water bodies which were being provided Central assistance under the Scheme of Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of water bodies. However, in 2016, a Parliamentary Standing Committee pointed out the need of conducting a separate census of water bodies. It was after the committee’s recommendation that the government launched the first census of water bodies in 2018-19 in convergence with the sixth minor irrigation census.

How was the data collected?

According to the water body census report, traditional methodology i.e. paper based schedules were canvassed both for rural and urban areas for the census of water bodies. Three schedules — ‘village schedule’, ‘urban schedule’ and ‘water body schedule’ were prepared to collect information on water bodies. Besides, a smart phone was used to capture latitude, longitude and photographs of water bodies.

What are the main findings of the Water Bodies Census?

• The water body census report states that India has 24.24 lakh water bodies like ponds, tanks, and lakes, with West Bengal accounting the most (7.47 lakh) and Sikkim the least (134).

• The report says, “24,24,540 water bodies have been enumerated in the country, out of which 97.1% (23,55,055) are in rural areas and only 2.9% (69,485) are in urban areas.”

• “59.5% (14,42,993) of water bodies are ponds, followed by tanks (15.7%, i.e 3,81,805), reservoirs (12.1%, i.e 2,92,280), Water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams (9.3%, i.e 2,26,217), lakes (0.9%, i.e 22,361) and others (2.5%, i.e 58,884).,” it adds.

• According to the report, “West Bengal has highest number of ponds & reservoirs, whereas Andhra Pradesh has highest number of tanks, Tamil Nadu has highest number of lakes and Maharashtra is the leading state for water conservation scheme.”

• In addition to West Bengal, six other states — Uttar Pradesh (2.45 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (1.90 lakh), Odisha (1.81 lakh), Assam (1.72 lakh), Jharkhand (1.07 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (1.06 lakh) — each have over one lakh water bodies. There are four states and UTs — Arunachal Pradesh (993), Delhi (893), Chandigarh (188) and Sikkim (134) — each of which account for below 1,000 water bodies.

• As per the report, West Bengal’s South 24 Pargana has been ranked as the top district having the highest (3.55 lakh) number of water bodies across the country. The district is followed by Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapur (50,537) and West Bengal’s Howrah (37,301).

2. Typhoons

A tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation. 

Once a tropical cyclone reaches maximum sustained winds of 74 miles per hour or higher, it is then classified as a hurricane, typhoon, or tropical cyclone, depending upon where the storm originates in the world.  

• In the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific, the term hurricane is used. 

• The same type of disturbance in the Northwest Pacific is called a typhoon. 

• In the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the generic term tropical cyclone is used, regardless of the strength of the wind associated with the weather system.

Conditions for formation of Typhoons

A typhoon forms when winds blow into areas of the ocean where the water is warm. These winds collect moisture and rise, while colder air moves in below. This creates pressure, which causes the winds to move very quickly. In order for a storm to be a typhoon, wind speeds have to reach at least 74 miles per hour.

Impact

It causes major flooding through their intense rainfall and storm surges. Their effects range from structural damage to trees, watercraft, and buildings to both immediate and long-term impacts on human life and livelihood.

3. Concept of Sponge city

A Sponge City is a city that has the capacity to mainstream urban water management into the urban planning policies and designs. It should have the appropriate planning and legal frameworks and tools in place to implement, maintain and adapt the infrastructure systems to collect, store and treat (excess) rainwater. 

In addition, a “sponge city” will not only be able to deal with “too much water”, but also reuse rain water to help to mitigate the impacts of “too little” and “too dirty” water.

Why needed?

Stormwater management is a vital issue in sustainable urban development. Improper storm management in cities leads to waterlogging and flood formation, urban water scarcity, soil erosion, rainwater waste, and water bodies pollution. Insufficient control of urban floods also causes social problems, such as the spread of infectious diseases and homelessness or death of human beings.

Practices like the bio-retention cell, permeable pavement, vegetated swale, and green roof that reduce the risk of flooding, waterlog, erosion, and pollutant discharge and maintaining the base flows of receiving rivers in cities are known as ‘Spongy City’.

4. National Quantum Mission

• The Union Cabinet approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) in a bid to aid scientific and industrial research and development in quantum technology.

• The mission involves a cost of Rs 6,003.65 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31, and aims to put India among the top six leading nations involved in the research and development in quantum technologies.

• NQM will mainly work towards strengthening India’s research and development in the quantum arena alongside indigenously building quantum-based (physical qubit) computers which are far more powerful and are able to perform the most complex problems in a highly secure manner.

• It will target developing intermediate scale quantum computers with 50-1000 physical qubits in eight years in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology.

• Satellite based secure quantum communications between ground stations over a range of 2000 kilometres within India, long distance secure quantum communications with other countries, inter-city quantum key distribution over 2000 km as well as multi-node Quantum network with quantum memories are among the other objectives of the mission.

• The mission will help develop magnetometers with high sensitivity in atomic systems and Atomic Clocks for precision timing, communications and navigation.

• It will also support design and synthesis of quantum materials such as superconductors, novel semiconductor structures and topological materials for fabrication of quantum devices. Single photon sources/detectors, entangled photon sources will also be developed for quantum communications, sensing and metrological applications.

• Four ‘Thematic Hubs’ (T-Hubs) will be set up in top academic and national R&D institutes in the domains of quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and metrology, and quantum materials and devices. The hubs will focus on generation of new knowledge through basic and applied research as well as promote R&D.

• DST will lead this national mission, supported by other departments. Presently, R&D works in quantum technologies are underway in the US, Canada, France, Finland, China and Austria.