Traditional rainwater harvesting was commonly practiced in the semi-arid regions of Rajasthan, India. Most houses had large underground tanks, called tankas, used to collect and store rainwater from rooftop catchment systems. Rainwater would flow via pipes from the rooftops into these large underground cisterns, some as large as a room, and provide a reliable source of drinking water throughout the year. The first rains were not collected to clean the roofs and pipes, but subsequent rains were stored in the tankas until the next rainfall.

1. Traditional rainwater harvesting

2. Region of India???

3. Region of India???

4. Semi-arid regions of Rajasthan
 In semi-arid regions of Rajasthan traditional rainwater
harvesting is carried out as follows
 Almost all the houses traditionally had underground
tanks or tankas for storing drinking water.
 The tanks could be as large as a big room;
 One household in Phalodi had a tank that was 6.1 metres
deep, 4.27 metres long and 2.44 metres wide.
 The tankas were part of the well-developed rooftop
rainwater harvesting system.
 They were built inside the main house or the courtyard.
 They were connected to the sloping roofs of the houses
through a pipe

5. Tankas rainwater harvesting

6. Semi-arid regions of Rajasthan
 Rain falling on the rooftops would travel down the pipe
and was stored in these underground ‘tankas’.
 The first spell of rain was usually not collected as this
would clean the roofs and the pipes. The rainwater from
the subsequent showers was then collected.
 The rainwater can be stored in the tankas till the next
rainfall making it an extremely reliable source of
drinking water when all other sources are dried up,
particularly in the summers.
 Many houses constructed underground rooms adjoining
the ‘tanka’ to beat the summer heat as it would keep the
room cool.

7. Other traditional water harvesting
systems
 In ancient India, along with the sophisticated
hydraulic structures, there existed an
extraordinary tradition of water-harvesting
system.
 In hill and mountainous regions, people built
diversion channels like the ‘guls’ or ‘kuls’ of
the Western Himalayas for agriculture.

8. ‘guls’ or ‘kuls’

9. ‘
Rooftop rain water harvesting’ in
Rajasthan

10. Inundation channels in Bengal

11. What is the message???

12. khadins and johads

13. khadins and johads

14. Bamboo drip irrigation in Meghalaya

16. Appreciate his effort!!!