Traditional water harvesting methods in India : Pinki Purkasyastha (Chandrani)

water has been harvested in India since antiquity..our ancestors were expert in the art water harvsting .its is to be noted that,

• They harvested the rain drop directly. From rooftops, they collected water and stored it in tanks built in their courtyards. From open community lands, they collected the rain and stored it in artificial wells.
  
• They harvested monsoon runoff by capturing water from swollen streams during the monsoon season and stored it various forms of water bodies.
  
• They harvested water from flooded rivers...

In India , stating from kashmir to kanyakumaki and gujrat to assam everywhere we find the existance of different types of water harvestings systems designed and maintained by following the traditional methods and techniques of different communities native to those particular areas...

Different water harvesting systems are generally known by different names in different areas of the country such as..

Eco-zone	Traditional water harvesting systems	Description	Found in
1. Trans-Himalayan Region	Zing	Tanks for collecting water from melted ice	Ladakh
2. Western Himalayas	Kul	Water channels in mountain areas	Jammu, Himachal Pradesh
	Naula	Small ponds	Uttaranchal
	Kuhl	Headwall across a ravine to divert water from a natural stream for irrigation	Himachal Pradesh
	Khatri	Chambers carved in hard rock for storing water	Himachal Pradesh
3. Eastern Himalayas	Apatani	Terraced plots connected by inlet and outlet channels	Arunachal Pradesh
4. Northeastern Hill Ranges	Zabo	Impounding runoff	Nagaland
	Cheo-oziihi	Channels from rivers	Nagaland
	Bamboo drip irrigation	Water from streams in the hills is brought to the plains via bamboo pipes for drip irrigation	Meghalaya
5. Brahmaputra Valley	Dongs	Ponds	Assam
	Dungs / jampois	Small irrigation canals linking rice fields and a stream	W. Bengal
6. Indo-Gangetic Plain	Ahar-pynes	Embanked catchment basin and channels	S. Bihar
	Bengal's inundation channels	Inundation canals	W. Bengal
	Dighis	Small square or circular reservoir fed by canals from rivers	Delhi
	Baolis	Stepwells	Delhi
7. Thar Desert	Kunds / kundis	Underground storage	W.Rajasthan
	Kuis / beris	Deep pits near tanks	W.Rajasthan
	Baoris / bers	Community wells	Rajasthan
	Jhalaras	Tank	Rajasthan, Gujarat
	Nadi	Village ponds	Jodhpur, Rajasthan
	Tankas	Underground tank	Bikaner, Rajasthan
	Khadins	Embankment across lower hill slopes	Jaisalmer, W. Rajasthan
	Vav / Vavdi / Baoli / Bavadi	Stepwells	Gujarat, Rajasthan
	Virdas	Shallow wells	Rann of Kutch, Gujarat
	Paar	Area where water has percolated, accessed by kuis	-
8. Central Highlands	Talab / Bandhis	Reservoirs	Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh
	Saza Kuva	Open well	Mewar, E. Rajasthan
	Johads	Earthen check dams	Alwar district, Rajasthan
	Naada / bandh	Stone check dam	Mewar, Thar desert
	Pat	Diversion bund across stream	Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh
	Rapat	Percolation tank	Rajasthan
	Chandela tank	Tank	Rajasthan
	Bundela tank	Tank	Rajasthan
9. Eastern Highlands	Katas / Mundas / Bandhas	Earthen embankments across drainage lines	Orissa & Madhya Pradesh
10. Deccan Plateau	Cheruvu	Reservoirs to store runoff	Chitoor,Cuddapah districts of Andhra Pradesh
	Kohli tanks	Tanks	Maharashtra
	Bhandaras	Check dams	Maharashtra
	Phad	Check dams and canals	North western Maharashtra
	Kere	Series of tanks	Central Karnataka
	Ramtek Model	Intricate network of groundwater and surface waterbodies, connected through surface and underground canals	Ramtek, Maharashtra
11. Western Ghats	Surangam	Horizontal well	Kasargode, Kerala
12. Western Coastal Plains	Virdas	Shallow wells	Rann of Kutch, Gujarat
13. Eastern Ghats	Korambu	Temporary wall of brushwood, grass and mud laid across channels to raise the level of water	Kerala
14. Eastern Coastal Plains	Yeri	Tank	Tamilnadu
	Ooranis	Pond	Tamilnadu
15. The Islands	Jackwells	Bamboo pipes are used to lead water into shallow pits	Great Nicobar Island

(source-http://cpreec.org/)

so, we see that our country is so much rich in traditional knowledge related to water harvesting....

water harvesting down the ages in India-
India has a rich history of water harvesting systems-

Tanks in the Indus – Sarasvati Valley

The excavations at Harappa and Mohenjodaro reveal deep rectangular constructions that were probably the earliest tanks built in India.

3rd millennium B.C.	Dams built of stone rubble were found in Baluchistan and Kutch
3000 – 1500 B.C.	Indus - Sarasvati Civilization had several reservoirs to collect rainwater runoff. Each house had an individual well
321 – 291 B.C.	Archeological evidence for dams, lakes and irrigation systems in the time of Chandragupta Maurya’s rule
3rd Century B.C.	Kautilya’s Arthasastra mentions irrigation using water harvesting systems
1st Century B.C.	Sringaverapura near Allahabad had a sophisticated water harvesting system using the floodwaters of the Ganges
2nd Century A.D.	Grand Anicut or Kallanai built by Karikala Chola across the river Cauvery to divert water for irrigation is still functional
11th Century A.D.	King Bhoja of Bhopal built the largest artificial lake (65,000 acres) in India fed by streams and springs
12th Century A.D.	Rajatarangini by Kalhana describes a well- maintained irrigation system in Kashmir.

Most important thing associated with the traditional systems of water harvesting is their technology, pattern , and design. Those systems were built considering the ecology,rainfall pattern and the geography of the particular area. As for example-

a. In the hills and mountainous regions where there are plenty of streams, simple engineering structures were used to divert the water into channels that fed the fields. The structures became more sophisticated and much bigger when the streams turned to rivers.

b. In the arid and semi-arid regions, where the streams are more seasonal, the diversion channels first led the water to a storage structure like a tank for later use. Storage systems to collect just runoff from the watershed were also built.

c. In the flood plains, several unique systems to control and harness the floodwaters were devised.

d. In the coastal areas where there is danger of river water turning saline, several ingenious ways came up to regulate the flow of saline water.

e. In regions with good groundwater aquifers, dugwells with innovative methods to lift the water were in use. Deep wells were dug in the beds of tanks and rivers, both to serve as a source of good water when the water recedes and also to recharge the groundwater when they are fully submerged.

f. In areas where rainfall is the only option, people devised methods to literally “catch rainwater where it fell”.

so, it proves that the intellectual level of our ancestors was so high.... they knew the needs of water harvesting and fully aware of the ecology, geography, geology etc.Now following our ancestors it is our duty to conserve nature and natural water by practising water harvesting because storage of water by forming waterbodies leads to the percolation of standing water into the ground and recharging the water table.Wells in the surrounding areas have plenty of good water that increases Green cover in the sorrounding areas. these systems help in reduction of floods and runoff ....and protect life and livelihood......


Save water....save future....................