This document discusses traditional water harvesting systems in India. It explains that India receives most of its water from rainfall and different regions developed unique water harvesting methods suited to local conditions like kuls in Himachal Pradesh and zabo in Nagaland. However, many traditional systems have been abandoned due to factors like urbanization, groundwater exploitation, and a shift to modern water sources. The document argues that reviving traditional water harvesting could help address water scarcity issues, as evidenced by the success of communities like Sukhomajari that adopted watershed management approaches.

2. 1. Amit Dwivedi 46
2. Sonika Minz 47
3. Jay Prakash 48

3.  WHAT IS WATER HARVESTING
 WHY WATER HARVESTING IN INDIA ?
 DIFFERENT TRADITIONAL WATER HARVESTING
SYSTEM IN INDIA
 WHAT HAPPEN TO TRADITIONAL WATER
HARVESTING SYSTEMS IN INDIA
 CONCLUSION

4.  Water harvesting is the gathering, or
accumulating and storing, of water. Water
harvesting has been used to provide
drinking water, water for livestock, water
for irrigation or to refill aquifers in a process
call ground water recharge

5.  In India, most water reaches the ground
through rain.
 In contrast, in Western countries (mid-latitude
regions), 50% of water coming down
(precipitation) is in the form of snow
 Snow melts slowly and percolates into the
ground and recharges ground water
 Rain water need management
 Rain water drained out in the rivers and sea, if
not managed properly

6.  Total annual rainfall in India: 400 million hectare-
meters (area x height)
 India’s area: 329 million hectares
 If evenly spread, average height: 1.28m
 Actual distribution, highly skewed area- wise:
 Thar desert receives less than 200mm raifall
annually, while Cherrapunji receives 11,400mm
 But almost every part of India receives at least
100mm annually
 100 mm rain water will be sufficient for drinking
purpose, if manage properly.

7.  Water has been harvested in India since
antiquity, with our ancestors perfecting
the art of water management.
 They harvested the rain drop directly.
 They harvested water from flooded rivers
 India have Different Harvesting Systems
all over India depends on rainfall
pattern, available resourses and local
wisdom

9.  Water from melting snow and ice is the only
source of water here.
 Even the Thar desert gets more rainfall.
 The water in the streams was hence led by
channels to storage tanks called zing and
used the next day.

12.  Kuls are water channels found in precipitous
mountain areas. These channels carry water
from glaciers to villages in the valley of
Himachal Pradesh. Where the terrain is
muddy, the kul is lined with rocks to keep it
from becoming clogged. In the Jammu region
too, similar irrigation systems called kuhls.

13.  Rainfall and groundwater are the
main sources of water in this region.
 Natural springs are used for
drinking water purposes.
 Zabo, meaning impounding
run-off’ is practiced in NAGALAND
 The runoff collects in ponds in the
middle terrace.
 The runoff then passes through slopes
where there are cattle yards, and
finally reaches the paddy fields at the
foot of the hills
 It is still practiced in villages
such as kikruma in Nagaland

15.  Rapidly flowing water from streams and
springs was captured by bamboo pipes and
transported over hundreds of metres to drip
irrigate black pepper cultivation in
Meghalaya.
 Many bamboo pipes of varying diameters
and lengths were laid to manipulate and
control the flow of water.

16.  This region has many natural rivers like
Brahmaputra and Barek rivers.
 Dongs or ponds were constructed by the Bodo
tribes of Assam to harvest water for irrigation. .
These ponds are individually owned with no
community involvement.
 In the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, small
irrigation channels called dungs or jampois were
used to bring water from streams to rice fields.

17.  The Thar Desert receives very little rainfall.
 Tarais (reservoirs) were built in the valley
between sand dunes by constructing bunds at
the two ends.
 Individual homes and farms in Bikaner
built tankas.
 Stepwells are India’s most unique contribution
to architecture.
 Kunds or kundis in Western Rajasthan and
Gujarat harvest rainwater for drinking
 Kuis or beris were used to harvest rainwater in
areas with scanty rainfall.

18.  The region is full of ravines and valleys.
 Irrigation by wells and tanks was very common
 Both Jodhpur and Udaipur in Rajasthan are dotted
with innumerable lakes.
 The Chandela Kings (851 – 1545 A.D.) of
Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh, established a network
of several hundred tanks that ensured a satisfactory
level of groundwater.

19.  The Bundela Kings who came later built close
to palaces and temples and were not originally
meant for irrigation at all, but for the use of all.
 Small earthen check dams called johads were
built in Rajasthan to capture and conserve
rainwater.

20. Tanka,Beris,Kunds and Stepwells

22.  The rainfall is low to moderate.
 Many kinds of irrigation systems like
wells, embankments across rivers and
streams, reservoirs and tanks are all found here.
 Check dams or diversion weirs
called bhandaras were built by villagers across
rivers in Maharashtra.
 In Andhra Pradesh, where the annual rainfall is
1000 mm, large tanks called cheruvu were the
main irrigation source.

23.  Surangam, a special water harvesting structure, is
found in Kasaragod district in northern Kerala.
 People here depend on groundwater

24.  Shallow wells called virdas were dug in low depressions
called jheels (tanks).
 They were built by the nomadic Maldharis who identified
these depressions by studying the flow of water during the
monsoon.

25.  Being on the coast, Kendrapada district of Orissa
suffers from waterlogging, floods or saltwater
ingress.
 There are also a number of rivers, creeks and
ponds.
 The solution was a community pond in each
village, with huge bunds to stop saltwater
ingress
 Every house also had a pond in its backyard

26.  The Shompen tribals of the Great Nicobar Island made
full use of the undulating terrain to harvest water.
 In the lower parts, bunds of hard wood were built and
water collected in the pits called jackwells.
 A full length of bamboo is cut longitudinally and placed
along a gentle slope with the lower end leading into a
shallow pit.
 These serve as conduits for rainwater which is collected
drop by drop in pits called Jackwells.

27.  Ahar-pyne is a traditional floodwater
harvesting system indigenous to south Bihar

28.  Decades of British rule ravaged the peoples’ water
knowledge heritage.
 Technological changes such as the introduction of
tubewells put richer farmers in command of the tank area.
 Big Farmers have lost interest in the community
management of the tanks because of technological
development.
 In the urban areas these systems have either disappeared
because of pressure from real estate lobbies or have
become heavily polluted.
 Today, traditional water harvesting systems are only
important in remote areas such as the Himalayan states
which are beyond the immediate reach of water
bureaucracies.

29.  Ground water exploitation in India is very high
 Area irrigated by ground water has increased 5 times since
independence
 Tubewells and borewells constructed primarily by larger
farmers, encouraged by cheap electricity drain ground
water
 Big dam projects have hardly had any positive impact
 Very few surface irrigation initiatives completed since
independence
 Too expensive to complete
 More importantly, displace communities,
 Also reduce soil quality, lead to deforestation, all of which
is detrimental to ground water levels

30.  Traditional water harvesting systems have withstood the
test of time
 Hence, worth taking seriously, of course in the current
context and fully understanding their limitations
 Example of the stellar success of traditional water harvesting
systems:
 The city of Jodhpur, even though several hundred years
old and right in the middle of a desert, has never been
evacuated for lack of water.
 The traditional water harvesting systems worked even in
droughts when piped water supply failed.

31.  Several success stories in watershed development like
Sukhomajari village, ralegan siddhi village have shown the
ray of hope for local management of water with involvement
of community and small budget.
 Water security is not only determined by the nature alone. It
is the culture, society and tradition which have to play an
equal role.
 If land and rainwater managed properly with the efficient
water harvesting techniques then there will never be the
problem of water scarcity in any part of India.