Public Ponds of Kerala

A Temple Pond of Kerala/Image Credit: Sreekanth

The Mother Nature has gifted Kerala with plenty of water resources in the form of a network of rivers, lakes and backwaters. However the growing population and erratic monsoons posses a challenge to its water resources. Henceforth one can see the numerous water ponds in the state.

Numerically speaking, there are a total of 18681 documented public ponds across 14 districts of Kerala. Palakkad leads the chart with 5411 ponds followed by Kannur (2414) and Alappuzha (1580).

These ponds not only provide potable drinking water, they also act as little pockets of biodiversity as they house a variety of local flora and fauna. These ponds especially temple ponds (locally known as ambalakkulam) are regarded nursey of medicinal herbs, for example, Brahmi (Bacupa lIlullieri Pennell), Mukkutti (Biophytlllll sensitivum DC.) and Thumba (Lellccas aspera Spr.).

Number of Public Ponds in Kerala by Each District

District	Number of Ponds
Thiruvananthapuram	1086
Kollam	709
Pathanamthitta	582
Alappuzha	1580
Kottayam	853
Idukki	973
Ernakulam	932
Thrissur	1198
Malappuram	1153
Kozhikode	445
Wayanad	733
Palakkad	5411
Kannur	2414
Kasaragod	612
Kerala	18681

Source: Temple tanks - the ancient water harvesting systems of Kerala and their multifarious roles by S. Maya