EAC-PM Working Paper Series

EAC-PM/WP/9/2023
Shankar Prasad Sarma
Himani Aggarwal
 Contents
1. Need for Traditional water conservation: ............................................................................................... 1
2. Power and utility of Traditional knowledge: Examples .......................................................................... 3
2.1 The fluctuating fortunes of Sukhomajri: ................................................................................................. 3
2.2 Averting a drought by indigenous methods: ........................................................................................... 5
2.3 Out of the box thinking for local problems: ............................................................................................ 6
2.4 Creating capacity by harnessing knowledge: .......................................................................................... 7
3. Conservation of water: Rationale ............................................................................................................ 8
4. Need for water conservation: ................................................................................................................ 11
5. Water availability: .................................................................................................................................. 12
6. Whose responsibility is water-related legislation? ............................................................................... 16
7. Different traditional ways of water conservation/harvesting: ............................................................ 17
1. Trans Himalayan Region: ......................................................................................................................... 17
2. Western Himalaya: .................................................................................................................................. 18
3. Eastern Himalayas : ................................................................................................................................. 22
4. North eastern Hill ranges: ....................................................................................................................... 22
5. Brahmaputra valley: ................................................................................................................................ 24
6. Indo- Gangetic plains :............................................................................................................................. 24
7. Thar Desert : ............................................................................................................................................ 26
8. Central Highlands : .................................................................................................................................. 32
9. Eastern Highlands :.................................................................................................................................. 35
10. Deccan Plateau:..................................................................................................................................... 35
11. Western Ghats: ..................................................................................................................................... 36
12. Western Coastal plains : ........................................................................................................................ 37
13. Eastern ghats: ........................................................................................................................................ 37
14. Eastern coastal plains: ........................................................................................................................... 38
15. The Islands: ........................................................................................................................................... 38
8. Reasons for decline of Traditional water systems: ............................................................................... 39
9. Role of colonial rule: .............................................................................................................................. 40
10. Revival of traditional knowledge-Success stories: ........................................................................... 46
10.1 Water Gandhi: ..................................................................................................................................... 46
10.2 Rainwater recharges borewells:.......................................................................................................... 49
10.3 School shows the way: ........................................................................................................................ 50
10.4 Service-Learning Program (SLP): ......................................................................................................... 50
10.5 The efforts of the Baigas: .................................................................................................................... 51
11. The classic case of Delhi: ................................................................................................................... 53
12. Conclusion: ......................................................................................................................................... 55
References ...................................................................................................................................................... 58
 Traditional Water Conservation:1
Reasons for Decline and Ned for Revival
*****

“Even as life on earth cannot sustain without water, virtue too depends
ultimately on rain”

Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar says in the Tamil Veda Tirukkural (verse 20)

1. Need for Traditional water conservation:

1.1 Since time primordial, the necessity, the wherewithal, and the ways of
water harvesting and conservation have been appreciated, developed, and
practiced in India. The processes and structures of traditional water
conservation are unique and varied, and depend on the mainland's
geographical diversity. But the commonality that runs through all the
systems is the end result, which is to collect rainwater, groundwater, stream
water, river water, and flood water and to recycle them to optimize usage of
scarce water resources.

1.2 Water resources although abundant at some point in history when

population was sparce, has been regularly harvested in India since ancient
times. Evidences of simple and advanced water conservation and harvesting
systems are galore in the existing structures, dilapidated ruins, ancient texts
and archeological remains. Even the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and
various Vedic, Buddhist and Jain texts contain references to canals, tanks,
embankments and wells. Every water body is revered as God.

1.3 Water is known as ap in Vedic Sanskrit. It is said to be of the same age

of the Universe itself in the Vedas. The world is spoken of as having been

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“originally water without light” (Salilam apraketam; Rig Veda X.29.3).
Therefore, water is considered Divine by the Vedas, and it was thought to
bring peace, happiness, wealth, long-life and good health. Being divine water
has been not only worshipped but also collected, conserved and recycled
since ages.

1.4 Kautilya’s Arthashastra also has several mentions of the need for
creating processes and structures for conservation and harvesting of water
resources. Archaeological evidences o the period shows that several of his
ides were implemented in pursuit of conservation of water resources. The
terms used in the original text relating to water harvesting systems are
several, namely2,

i.Setu for embankment or dam for storing water;

ii.Parivaha for channel;
iii.Tataka for tank;
iv. Nadyayatana for water from a river;
v. Nandiniband-hayatana for a structure dependent on a river such as a
dam;
vi. Nibadhayatana for canals from a river dam andkhata for a well.

1.5 When the exploring Europeans first set foot in South Asia in the 15th
century, it was possibly the richest and most meticulously planned region in
the world. The subsequent impoverishment of the region was juxtaposed
alongside the launching of the age of discovery in Europe. The setting up of
the East India Company in 1600 AD started the balls rolling for turning back
the clock of development of India. The flawed processes and biased
understanding of ways of Indian life were instrumental in dismantling not
only the prosperous and self-sufficient economy but also discontinuing most
of the processes for water conservation and harvesting, which we shall see

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later in this paper.

1.6 Its well documented how the colonial period led to impoverishment of
India which at the same time provided the finances for Britain’s Industrial
Revolution from 1760-1840. In their pursuit of increasing revenues, British
administrators hardly noticed the native villages and, therefore their internal
capacity to manage their natural resource base.

2. Power and utility of Traditional knowledge: Examples

Victor Hugo had famously said, “No power on earth can stop an idea whose
time has come”. But the idea of water conservation and water harvesting is
so ancient and powerful that people can at most forget about it in better
times, only to realize during difficult times of scarcity, how time tested and
resilient such structures can be. Nothing can explain better than some real
examples.

2.1 The fluctuating fortunes of Sukhomajri3:

i. In the year 1979, the people of Sukhomajri were faced with an

existential crisis triggered by a debilitating drought that stared at most
of India. Sukhomajri is a village nestled in the Shivalik hills. That year
the sparse monsoon rains did not let them grow a single crop. The
inhabitants’ stared at certain starvation.

ii. It was only after the efforts of soil conservationist, P Mishra who
persuaded the villagers to resuscitate the watershed areas by
refraining from grazing their livestock and thereby de-silting an earlier
earthen dam that he had helped build, that water from a nearby dam

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 could be channeled.

iii. This community approach to water conservation yielded results within

a few years by helping the villagers cultivate not one but three crops
and eventually converting the village into a food-exporting village
from an importing one before. At that time Economist Gopal Kadekodi
of the Institute of Economic Growth in New Delhi pointed out that,

“The rate of return of the project cannot be matched even by

the corporate sector.”

iv. From the late 1970's when Mishra convinced the villagers after much
initial hostility and suspicion about the benefits of soil conservation
and efficient use of forest wealth, the villagers have participated in the
Chakriya Vikas Pranali, a method of sustainable development. Two
decades of this programme had seen Sukhomajri become a self-
sustaining village. There was enough grass for fodder after the
villagers prevented their cattle from overgrazing, there was sufficient
mungri or its full-grown version bhabber to harvest and sell as raw
material for pulp, there was enough water after four earthen dams
were built to collect monsoon water. Sukhomajri had set a rare
example of conservation and social planning.

v. Twenty-five years later that green of hope and prosperity seems to

have run into trouble due to various reasons hovering over disputes
over ownership and control of the land and resources. 4In 1995 the
forest department arbitrarily divided the 400 hectare hill tract
between Sukhomajri and its neighbour village Dhamala. Residents of

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 Sukhomajri were no longer allowed to collect fodder from the area
demarcated for Dhamala.

vi. Its pertinent to note that this division of land apart from ruining the
resource management programme has also created social tension in
the area.

vii. However, in the topsy turvy fortune of Sukhomajri, the silver lining is
the success in community planning that was seen initially which had
shown that with community planning, with a blend of knowledge and
commitment, the economy of any village can be turned around.
Sukhomajri also showed that from self-destruction to rejuvenation
was only a short hop if only people are drawn into social programmes
and given control of the resources. For instance in Sukhomajri the tree
density in the village forest increased from 13 per hectare in 1976 to
an amazing 1,272 per hectare in 1992. Moreover, soil from the
hilltracts surrounding these villages was no longer silting Chandigarh's
Sukhna Lake.

2.2 Averting a drought by indigenous methods:

5
i. In not very far Rajasthan, a similar success story is repeated. It
pertains to a unique traditional water conservation process known as
Johads. Its well documented that Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat
Sangh, an NGO working in the drought prone area of Alwar
encouraged and helped villagers to revive traditional Johads, which
are earthen dams thrown across the channels of seasonal streams.

ii. In such johads rainwater is allowed to collect and it percolates into the

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Dying wisdom: the decline and revival of traditional water harvesting systems in India, The Ecologist, 1997

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 soil recharging the area and the ground water. Tarun Bharat Sangh
revived and rejuvenated more than 4500 johads in Rajasthan that
resulted in the manifold increase of ground water storage. The state of
Haryana's Water body Management Board manages more than 14000
ponds besides development of 60 lakes in Delhi NCR to cater to the
water needs of the people.

iii. Another encouraging anecdote is from the drought year 1987 when
there was an acute shortage of water in Rajasthan. Journalist Om
Thanvi found out that, wherever households had kept intact their
traditional water conserving systems, Kundis, the need for
Government assistance was minimal.

2.3 Out of the box thinking for local problems:

i. Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram which was reeling in water scarcity due
to rapid modernization resorted to rooftop water collection which
became self-sustaining for each household.

6
ii. The city enjoys an average annual rainfall of 2,500 millimetres.
Traditionally, this has been the only source of water and was very
popular among residents. Traditional Mizo houses have a sloping roof
designed for rainwater harvesting. Water from the rooftops flows
through gutters made of bamboo or metal sheets and collects in
rainwater tanks made of galvanised tin sheets.

iii. An underground reservoir of 5,400-kilolitre (kl) capacity was

constructed on an Aizawl hilltop by British civil servants, a hundred
years ago. A major part of the town relied on this reservoir for its

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 water. But the scenario has changed with increasing population
pressure creating a water scarcity.

iv. After various efforts, people of Mizoram are now going back to the
basic or the traditional systems. Rain water harvesting being the most
potent. R. K Srinivasan writes in Downtoearth that the immense
potential of rainwater harvesting can be simply illustrated. A person
normally requires 10 litres per day for cooking and drinking. The
longest period of dry days or rainless days in Aizawl are 120. A
household of eight members with a per capita requirement of 10 litres
can survive the entire year by building a storage tank of 9,600 to
10,000-litre capacity. A house with a roof measuring 6 m x 4 m can
harvest an astounding 60,000 litres of water annually.

v. Not only rooftop rainwater but also the surface run-off can be
harvested. By constructing contour trenches, the sub-surface seepage
can increase and enhance the yield. This will provide more water for
people downstream. Also, this can stabilise the soil layers and prevent
landslides.

2.4 Creating capacity by harnessing knowledge:

7
i. Elappully panchayat in the rain-shadow area of the district used to
suffer extensively from water shortage. It used to depend exclusively
on the canal waters from the Walayar dam. In areas like Menonpara,
the people used to depend on tanker lorry for drinking water all
through the year. The panchayat had witnessed even a farmer suicide
because of water scarcity.

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 ii. The Jala Subhiksha project begun in 2018 transformed the panchayat
by addressing the water issue within three years. After initial surveys
and awareness programmes, micro water supply schemes was
introduced in the wards hardest hit by the scarcity. Drinking water
kiosks were set up in the eight schools and 32 anganwadis in the
panchayat.

iii. Rooftop rainwater harvesting was introduced for 600 buildings,

including houses and offices, in Elappully. The harvested rainwater
was double-filtered and used to recharge more than 1,000 tube wells.
The hard water in the zone was improved through the ‘reverse flow’
mechanism.

iv. As many as 525 wells and 16 ponds abandoned because of water

scarcity were salvaged. Multiple injection wells were constructed to
recharge the groundwater using the water in the ponds. Water was
assured for farmers by cleaning up the canals, deepening the ponds
and introducing drip and tap irrigation.

3. Conservation of water: Rationale

3.1 Before delving further it appears imperative to understand the

meaning of water conservation, its need and the availability of water
resources. Water conservation is the careful use and preservation of the
water supply, including the quantity and quality of water utilized. Water is an
essential asset for the nourishment of all life8.

3.2 Water Conservation is the practice of efficiently preserving,

controlling, and managing water resources.

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3.3 Water conservation has become essential in every part of the world,
even in regions where water appears to be enough. It is the most practical
and environment-friendly approach to lessen our need for water. Likewise,
using less water puts less weight on our sewage treatment facilities, which
use ample energy for heating water.

3.4 As per the UN the following are some of the water related challenges9,

 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water

services.

 Almost 2 billion people depend on health care facilities without basic

water services

 Over half of the global population or 4.2 billion people lack safely
managed sanitation services.

 297,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases
due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water.

 2 billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress.

 90 per cent of natural disasters are weather-related, including floods

and droughts.

 80 per cent of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without

being treated or reused.

 Around two-thirds of the world’s transboundary rivers do not have a

cooperative management framework.

 Agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of global water withdrawal.

3.5 Water is the most important natural resource that living beings need.

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But at the same time, it has also been misused and wasted. To better grasp
the full significance of water conservation, let’s take a look at the few yet key
facts about water:

 The Earth has a limited amount of water. The water we have now is all
we get, recycled repeatedly.

 Ninety-seven percent (97%) of all water on Earth is saltwater- which is

not suitable for drinking.

 Only three percent (3%) of water on Earth is freshwater. Only 0.5% is

available is suitable for drinking.

 The other 2.5% of freshwater is found in glaciers, ice caps, the

atmosphere, soil, or under the Earth's surface or is too polluted for
consumption.

3.6 India accounts for about 2.45 per cent of world’s surface area, 4 per
cent of the world’s water resources and about 16 per cent of world’s
population. The total water available from precipitation in the country in a
year is about 4,000 cubic km. The availability from surface water and
replenishable groundwater is 1,869 cubic km. Out of this only 60 per cent
can be put to beneficial uses. Thus, the total utilisable water resource in the
country is only 1,122 cubic km.

3.7 There are four major sources of surface water. These are rivers, lakes,
ponds, and tanks. In the country, there are about 10,360 rivers and their
tributaries longer than 1.6 km each. The mean annual flow in all the river
basins in India is estimated to be 1,869 cubic km. However, due to
topographical, hydrological and other constraints, only about 690 cubic km
(32 per cent) of the available surface water can be utilised. Water flow in a

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river depends on size of its catchment area or river basin and rainfall within
its catchment area. The total replenishable groundwater resources in the
country are about 432 cubic km. The groundwater utilisation is very high in
the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. However, there
are States like Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Kerala, etc., which utilise only a small
proportion of their groundwater potentials. States like Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura and Maharashtra are utilising their ground water
resources at a moderate rate.

4. Need for water conservation:

4.1 Challenge of management of water resources in India has risen

multiple times since independence due to a variety of reasons, but most
importantly, rising demand for water usage and growing environmental
degradation.

4.2 The UN Sustainable Development Goals which are a call for action by
all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the planet has identified
17 SDGs which were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015. It was a part
of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that defines a 15-year plan
with 169 targets to achieve the SDGs (UNDESA, n.d.)10.

4.3 Its interesting to note that although only one SDG target makes
explicit reference to groundwater in its wording (Target 6.6), no less than 53
targets appear to be interlinked with groundwater, including – but not
limited to – all targets related to SGDs 6, 12 and 13. In the majority of the
cases, there is synergy between achieving the target and trends or
aspirations regarding groundwater (‘reinforcing linkages’), but in some cases

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The United Nations World Water Development Report 2022, UNESCO

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they are conflicting or of a mixed character (Guppy et al., 2018).

4.4 It would not be far-fetched therefore to say that, Groundwater is a key

resource for achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda, which implies that
adequate groundwater expertise and local hydrogeological knowledge are
required for its successful implementation (Velis et al., 2017; IAH, 2017).
There is a strong case for defining additional ‘groundwater status indicators’
for several SDG 6 targets, because groundwater is integral to these, but not
adequately dealt with so far (IAH, 2017).

4.5 In 2021, the annual water availability per person has decreased from
5200 cubic metres in 1951 to 1486 cubic metres. (Source: Central Water
Commission).

2.2 Due to a cyclical pattern of dry and rainy spells brought on by changing
weather patterns, India suffers from the "too much and too little water
syndrome." India is now the top groundwater extractor in the world,
accounting for 25% of the worldwide total. Over 70% of our water sources
are contaminated, and our major rivers are dying as a result of pollution.

5. Water availability:

5.1 Water availability per person depends on a nation's population and

the availability of water. In India, the country's per capita water availability is
declining as a result of the rising population and decreasing water
availability.

5.2 The average annual water availability per person was estimated to be
5200 cubic metres, 1816 cubic metres, and 1545 cubic metres from 1951
forward to 2001 and 2011, respectively. This amount may further decline to

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1401 cubic metres and 1367 cubic metres in the years 2025 and 2031,
respectively. It may decline as much as 1191 cubic metres by the year 2050.
India now has water stress and is on the verge of experiencing water
scarcity.

5.3 Water stress is defined as a per-capita water availability of less than

1,700 cum (cubic metre), while water scarcity is defined as a per-capita
availability of fewer than 1,000 cum.

5.4 Figure I and II below explains the trend of present and expected per
capita water availability in India. With increase in population the per capita
per annum surface water availability has fallen from 5200 cm in 1951 to
1816 cm in 2001 to 1545 in 2010.

Figure-I: Per capita surface water availability throughout the year across India

Per capita per annum surface water

6000 availability
5200
5000
CUBIC METRE (M3)

4000

3000
2309
1816
2000 1545

1000

0
1951 1991 2001 2010
YEAR
*ONE CUBIC METRE EQUALS 1000 LITRES

Source: Central Water Commission Report 2020-21

5.5 Figure II provides an expected per capita per annum surface water
availability in 2025 and 2050. The per capita availability of water has been
estimated to be around 1401 cm and 1191 cm respectively. However, water

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requirement of the country, based on population projection of 1.33 billion
and 1.58 billion for the years 2025 and 2050 respectively, as assessed by
National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Development
(NCIWRD-1999) constituted by Ministry of Water Resources is 843 BCM and
1180 BCM respectively.

Figure-II: Expected Surface water availability per capita per annum across India

Expected per capita per annum surface

water availability
1450
1401
1400

1350
CUBIC METRE (M3)

1300

1250
1191
1200

1150

1100

1050
2025 2050
YEAR
*ONE CUBIC METRE EQUALS 1000 LITRES

Source: Niti Aayog, Central Water Management Index (CWMI) Report 2019

5.6 Evapotranspiration causes the loss of around 53.3 percent of all

precipitation, leaving a surplus of 1869 BCM water in the nation. As a result
of topographical limitations and an unequal distribution of water resources
over time and location, around 40% of the potential is inaccessible. Thus, it is
projected that the nation's total usable water potential is 1123 BCM, made
up of 690 BCM of surface water and 433 BCM of groundwater.

5.7 The proportion of water utilized for irrigation out of all water
consumption for the year 1997–1998 was 83.30%, according to the National
Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (NCIWRD) report.

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Furthermore, according to the NCIWRD analysis, 72.48% of the water used
for irrigation in 2025 in a scenario of high demand will be used overall.

5.8 The average yearly water resources of India's 20 river basins were
estimated by a Central Water Commission study to be 1,999.20 billion cubic
metres (BCM). Hydro-meteorological and geological variables affect a
region's average yearly water availability. However, the population affects
how much water is available per person. It calculated that the country's
usable water is 1,126 BCM owing to geographical, hydrological, and other
limitations.
5.9 The country's water consumption is anticipated to double by 2030,
leading to serious water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people and a
potential 6% decline in GDP. In contrast to the current availability of 695
BCM, the water needed by 2050 under a high usage scenario is projected to
be a gentler 1,180 BCM, according to the study of the National Commission
for Integrated Water Resource Development. At 1,137 BCM, the total
amount of water that might potentially be available in the nation is still less
than this anticipated demand. Therefore, there is a pressing need to increase
our knowledge of our water supplies and consumption and implement
measures to make it sustainable and efficient. (Source: WRI Aqueduct; WHO
Global Health Observatory).

5.10 Long-term observation of water recharge in both the pre-monsoon

and post-monsoon seasons demonstrates a lowering of the water table due
to insufficient recharge, even though groundwater supplies a significant
portion of the country's water needs (Sakthivadivel 2007). If this pattern
holds, India may soon have a severe water shortage, particularly in the
agricultural sector. While it is anticipated that per capita available water

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would either decline or remain unchanged, per capita water usage is
anticipated to rise from 99 litres/a day (2009) to 167 litres/a day (2050). Also
rising from 85 lpcd in 2000 to 125 lpcd and 170 lpcd in 2025 and 2050,
respectively, is the average home water consumption. By 2025 and 2050,
respectively, the total industrial water consumption is anticipated to rise to
92 BCM and 161 BCM.

6. Whose responsibility is water-related legislation?

6.1 Entry 17 under List II of Seventh Schedule provides that "Water, that is
to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments,
water storage and water power subject to the provisions of Entry 56 of List I".

6.2 As such, the Central Government is conferred with powers to regulate

and develop inter-State rivers under Entry 56 of List I of Seventh Schedule to
the extent declared by the Parliament by law to be expedient in the public
interest. It also has the power to make laws for the adjudication of any
dispute relating to waters of Inter-State River or river valley under Article
262 of the Constitution. The individual State Governments are the ones that
take the lead on initiatives for the improvement, conservation, and effective
management of water resources. The Central Government offers technical
and financial support to the State Governments through a variety of schemes
and programs to augment their efforts.

6.3 In the present times, the government is making great efforts to

guarantee that every part of the nation has access to clean drinking water
and sanitary facilities. India was declared to be free of open defecation in
2019 thanks to the Swachh Bharat mission's efforts, which started in 2014.
By 2024, Jal Jeewan Mission intends that every rural home in India would

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have access to clean and sufficient drinking water through individual
household tap connections. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs, the standard for urban water supply is 135 litres per capita per day
(lpcd). Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, a minimum service delivery level of 55
lpcd for rural regions has been set, which states may raise to a higher level.

7. Different traditional ways of water conservation/harvesting11:

7.1 Only through sustainable methods of water conservation, water can

be saved for present and future generations. Indian culture gives great
reverence to Rivers, but still our country faces issues related to water. Since
ancient times our ancestors knew the technique of water conservation and
also refined the processes over time. They conserved water by collecting
rainwater and flood waters and stored it for future use. In India we get to
see different harvesting structures or methods based on climate, rainfall,
geography of the area, soil, local availability of materials used for making
these structures. Some of the popularly used structures are listed below
according to geographical regions. Many of the structures can be seen in the
regions, although not in their pristine avatar. Perhaps it shows the
disappearance of such structures from not only the surface of the mainland
but also from our memories!

1. Trans Himalayan Region:

Zings Are structures seen in Ladakh. These are small tanks that collect
melted glacier water through channels

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 Source: Google images
2. Western Himalaya:

a) Kul

Kuls are water channels

found in precipitous
mountain areas. These
channels carry water from
glaciers to villages in the
Spiti 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 are found.

The crucial portion of a kul is its head at the glacier, which is to be tapped.
The head must be kept free of debris, and so the kul is lined with stones to
prevent clogging and seepage. In the village, the kul leads to a circular tank
from which the flow of water can be regulated. For example, when there is
need to irrigate, water is let out of the tank in a trickle. Water from the kul is
collected through the night and released into the exit channel in the
morning. By evening, the tank is practically empty, and the exit is closed. This
cycle is repeated daily. The kul system succeeds because Spiti residents

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mutually cooperate and share. The culture also is instrumental in
maintaining the carrying capacity of the surrounding cultivable land.
However, this system, carefully nurtured through the centuries, now runs
the risk of being upset because of various reasons.

Due to limited water availability,

inheritance laws in Spiti traditionally seek
to prevent fragmentation of landholdings.
The eldest son inherits not only the land,
but also the farm implements, the family
house and the family’s water rights. His
From glacier,
siblings either serve in the common
household or, more likely, become monks
or nuns in Buddhist monasteries. Thus, a
sort of population control has been
evolved, which serves to stave off
pressure on the landholdings.
through kul,
Water rights are owned exclusively by
members of the bada ghars (big houses),
who are descendants of the original
settlers or founders of the village. This
system, besides establishing the pre-
eminence of the bada ghars, has also
to tank. installed a local social hierarchy. The
greater the share of a family’s water rights, the more land it controls. In
Kaza, for example, water rights over the single kul, irrigating 32 ha, are
shared by 18 bada ghars. Other families in Kaza have to buy water from

19 | P a g e
the bada ghars, and payment is generally made in kind or by providing free
labour, but often the water is given freely. Water transactions are based on
trust and are neither written down nor codified.

When a good snowfall assures abundant water, kul water is freely dispensed,
but when water is scarce, equality gives way to a preferential system. During
a water shortage, bada ghar members irrigate their fields first; others get
water only later in the season. This practise has the advantage of ensuring
that the demand for labour is spread over the entire harvest season because
the bada ghar’s crops ripen early, when other families are free to help in
harvesting. This spacing of the need for labour does away with demand
peaking at the same time throughout the valley, and provides a firm basis for
community labour. These cooperative efforts also mean that time and effort
do not become areas of conflict between those who require labour and
those offering it.

Nevertheless, water distribution from kuls can create tension, for, when
there is a water shortage, the bada ghars in effect are in a dominant position
and suffer the least, unlike those with secondary access who have to await
their turn, but are not certain if their share will be adequate.

b) Naula

Naula is a surface-water harvesting method typical to the hill areas of

Uttaranchal. These are small wells or ponds in which water is collected by
making a stone wall across a stream.

20 | P a g e
 Source: Google images
c) Khatri

Khatris are structures, about 10x12 feet in size and six feet deep carved out
in the hard rock mountain. These traditional water harvesting structures are
seen in Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh. There are
two types of khatris: one for animals and washing purposes in which
rainwater is collected from the roof through pipes, and the other used for
human consumption in which rainwater is collected by seepage through
rocks.

d) Kuhl

Kuhls are a traditional irrigation system in

Himachal Pradesh- surface channels
diverting water from natural flowing
streams (khuds). The system consists of a
temporary headwall (constructed usually
with river boulders) across a khud (ravine) for storage and diversion of the
flow through a canal to the fields. The kuhl was provided with moghas
(kuchcha outlets) to draw out water and irrigate nearby terraced fields. The
water would flow from field to field and surplus water, if any, would drain
back to the khud. The kuhls were constructed and maintained by the village

21 | P a g e
community.

3. Eastern Himalayas :

a) Apatani

This is a wet rice cultivation cum fish farming system. This system harvests
both ground and surface water for irrigation. It is practiced by Apatani tribes
of Ziro in the lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. In Apatani
system, valleys are terraced into plots separated by 0.6 meters high earthen
dams supported by bamboo frames. All plots have inlet and outlet on
opposite sides. The inlet of low-lying plot functions as an outlet of the high
lying plot. Deeper channels connect the inlet point to the outlet point. The
terraced plot can be flooded or drained off with water by opening and
blocking the inlets and outlets as and when required. The stream water is
tapped by constructing a wall of 2-4 m high and 1 m thick near forested hill
slopes. This is conveyed to agricultural fields through a channel network.

4. North eastern Hill ranges:

a) Zabo

The zabo (the word means ‘impounding run-off’) system is practiced in

22 | P a g e
Nagaland in north-eastern India. Villages such as Kikruma, where zabos are
found even today, are located on a high ridge. Though drinking water is a
major problem, the area receives high rainfall. The rain falls on a patch of
protected forest on the hilltop; as the water runs off along the slope, it
passes through various terraces. The water is collected in pond-like
structures in the middle terraces; below are cattle yards, and towards the
foot of the hill are paddy fields, where the run-off ultimately meanders into.

b) Cheo-ozihi

Seen in village of Kwigema in Nagaland. The river water is brought down by a

long channel. From this channel, many branch channels are taken off, and
water is often diverted to the terraces through bamboo pipes. One of the
channels is named Cheo-oziihi - oziihi means water and Cheo was the person
responsible for the laying of this 8-10 km-long channel with its numerous
branches.

c) Bamboo Drip Irrigation Meghalaya has an ingenious system of tapping

stream and spring water by using bamboo pipes to irrigate plantations. This
200-year-old system is used by the tribal farmers of Khasi and Jaintia hills to
drip-irrigate their black pepper cultivation. Bamboo pipes are used to divert
perennial springs on the hilltops to the lower reaches by gravity. The channel
sections, made of bamboo, divert and convey water to the plot site where it

23 | P a g e
is distributed without leakage into branches, again made and laid out with
different forms of bamboo pipes. Bamboos of varying diameters are used for
laying the channels.

5. Brahmaputra valley:

a) Dongs are ponds constructed by the Bodo tribes of Assam to harvest

water for irrigation. These ponds are individually owned with no community
involvement.

b) Dungs or Jampois Dungs or Jampois are small irrigation channels linking

rice fields to streams in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.

6. Indo- Gangetic plains :

a) Ahar Pynes: This traditional floodwater harvesting system is indigenous to

south Bihar. In south Bihar, the terrain has a marked slope -- 1 m per km --
from south to north. The soil here is sandy and does not retain water.
Groundwater levels are low. Rivers in this region swell only during the

24 | P a g e
monsoon, but the water is swiftly carried away or percolates down into the
sand. All these factors make floodwater harvesting the best option here, to
which this system is admirably suited. An ahar is a catchment basin
embanked on three sides, the ‘fourth’ side being the natural gradient of the
land itself. Ahar beds were also used to grow a rabi(winter) crop after
draining out the excess water that remained after kharif (summer)
cultivation. Pynes are artificial channels constructed to utilise river water in
agricultural fields. Starting out from the river, pynes meander through fields
to end up in an ahar.

b) Bengal’s inundation channel: Bengal once had an extraordinary system of

inundation canals. The canals were broad and shallow, carrying the crest
waters of the river floods, rich in fine clay and free from coarse sand, the
canals were long and continuous and fairly parallel to each other, and at the
right distance from each other for purposes of irrigation; irrigation was

25 | P a g e
performed by cuts in the banks of the canals, which were closed when the
flood was over.

c) Dighis: Made by emperor Shahjahan. A dighi was a square or circular

reservoir of about 0.38 m by 0.38 m with steps to enter. Each dighi had its
own sluice gates.Steps to make the surface temperature map

d) Baolis Baolis were secular structures from which everyone could draw
water. Gandak-ki-baoli (so named because its water has gandak or sulphur)
was built during the reign of Sultan Iltutmish. The water of this beautiful
rock-hewn baoli is still used for washing and bathing.

7. Thar Desert :

a) Kunds / Kundis A kund or kundi looks like an upturned cup nestling in a

saucer. These structures harvest rainwater for drinking, and dot the sandier
tracts of the Thar Desert in western Rajasthan and some areas in Gujarat.
Essentially a circular underground well, kunds have a saucer-shaped
catchment area that gently slopes towards the centre where the well is
situated. A wire mesh across water-inlets prevents debris from falling into
the well-pit. The sides of the well-pit are covered with (disinfectant) lime and
ash. Most pits have a dome-shaped cover, or at least a lid, to protect the

26 | P a g e
water. If need be, water can be drawn out with a bucket. The depth and
diameter of kunds depend on their use (drinking, or domestic water
requirements).

b) Kuis / Beris Found in western Rajasthan, these are 10-12 m deep pits dug
near tanks to collect the seepage. Kuis can also be used to harvest rainwater
in areas with meagre rainfall. The mouth of the pit is usually made very
narrow. This prevents the collected water from evaporating. The pit gets
wider as it burrows under the ground, so that water can seep in into a large
surface area. The openings of these entirely kuchcha (earthen) structures are
generally covered with planks of wood, or put under lock and key. The water
is used sparingly, as a last resource in crisis situations.

c) Baoris / Bers Baoris or bers are community wells, found in Rajasthan, that

27 | P a g e
are used mainly for drinking. Most of them are very old and were built by
banjaras (mobile trading communities) for their drinking water needs. They
can hold water for a long time because of almost negligible water
evaporation.

e) Nadis Jhalaras were human-made tanks, found in Rajasthan and Gujarat,

essentially meant for community use and for religious rites. Often
rectangular in design, jhalaras have steps on three or four sides. Jhalars are
ground water bodies which are built to ensure easy & regular supply of
water to the surrounding areas .The jhalars are rectangular in shape with
steps on three or even on all the four sides of the tank. The steps are built on
a series of levels. d) Jhalaras Nadis are village ponds, found near Jodhpur in
Rajasthan. They are used for storing waterfrom an adjoining natural
catchment during the rainy season. The site was selected by the villagers
based on an available natural catchments and its water yield potential. The
location of the nadi had a strong bearing on its storage capacity due to the
related catchment and runoff characteristics.

28 | P a g e
f) Tobas: Tobas is the local name given to a ground depression with a natural
catchment area. A hard plot of land with low porosity, consisting of a
depression and a natural catchment area was selected for the construction
of tobas.

29 | P a g e
g) Tankas: Tankas (small tank) are underground tanks, found traditionally in
most Bikaner houses. They are built in the main house or in the courtyard.
They were circular holes made in the ground, lined with fine polished lime, in
which rainwater was collected. Tankas were often beautifully decorated with
tiles, which helped to keep the water cool. The water was used only for
drinking. If in any year there was less than normal rainfall and the tankas did
not get filled, water from nearby wells and tanks would be obtained to fill
the household tankas. In this way, the people of Bikaner were able to meet
their water requirements.

30 | P a g e
h) Khadin: A khadin, also called a dhora, is an ingenious construction
designed to harvest surface runoff water for agriculture. Its main feature is a
very long (100-300 m) earthen embankment built across the lower hill slopes
lying below gravelly uplands.

i) Vav / vavdi / Baoli / Bavadi: Traditional step-wells are called vav or vavadi
in Gujarat, or baolis or bavadisin Rajasthan and northern India. Built by the
nobility usually for strategic and/or philanthropical reasons, they were
secular structures from which everyone could draw water.

31 | P a g e
 Rani ki vav, Google image

j) Paar system Paar is a common water harvesting practice in the western

Rajasthan region. It is a common place where the rainwater flows from the
agar (catchment) and in the process percolates into the sandy soil. Kuis or
beris are normally 5 metres (m) to 12 m deep. The structure was constructed
through traditional masonary technology.

8. Central Highlands :

a) Talab / Bandhis Talabs are reservoirs. They may be natural, such as the
ponds (pokhariyan) at Tikamgarh in the Bundelkhand region. A reservoir area
of less than five bighas is called a talai; a medium sized lake is called a bandhi
or talab; bigger lakes are called sagar or samand.

32 | P a g e
b) SazaKuva An open well with multiple owners (saza = partner), sazakuva is
the most important source of irrigation in the Aravalli hills in Mewar, eastern
Rajasthan. The soil dug out to make the well pit is used to construct a huge
circular foundation or an elevated platform sloping away from the well.

c) Johad Johads are small earthen check dams that capture and conserve
rainwater, improving percolation and groundwater recharge.

33 | P a g e
d) Naada / Bandha: Naada/bandha are found in the Mewar region of the
Thar desert. It is a stone check dam, constructed across a stream or gully, to
capture monsoon runoff on a stretch of land.

e) Pat Bhitada village, Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh developed the

unique pat system. This system was devised according to the peculiarities of
the terrain to divert water from swift-flowing hill streams into irrigation
channels called pats. The diversion bunds across the stream are made by
piling up stones and then lining them with teak leaves and mud to make
them leak proof.

f) Chandela Tank These tanks were constructed by stopping the flow of

water in rivulets flowing between hills by erecting massive earthen
embankments, having width of 60m or more. His earthen embankments
were supported on both sides with walls of coarse stones, forming a series of
stone steps. These tanks are made up of lime and mortar and this is the
reason why these tanks survived even after thousand years but the only
problem, which these tanks are facing, is siltation of tank beds.

g) Bundela Tank These tanks are bigger in size as compared to Chandela

tanks. These tanks had solidly constructed steps leading to water in the tank.

h) Rapat A rapat is a percolation tank, with a bund to impound rainwater

flowing through a watershed and a waste weir to dispose of the surplus flow.

Source:CRIDA

34 | P a g e
9. Eastern Highlands :

Katas / Mundas / Bandhas The katas, mundas andbandhas were the main
irrigation sources in the ancient tribal kingdom of the Gonds (now in Orissa
and Madhya Pradesh). A kata is constructed north to south, or east to west,
of a village. A strong earthen embankment, curved at either end, is built
across a drainage line to hold up an irregularly-shaped sheet of water.

10. Deccan Plateau:

a) Cheruvu: Cheruvu are found in Chitoor and Cuddapah districts in Andhra

Pradesh. They are reservoirs to store runoff.

b) Kohli Tanks: The Kohlis, a small group of cultivators, built some 43,381
water tanks in the district of Bhandara, Maharashtra, some 250-300 years
ago. It is still crucial for sugar and rice irrigation.

c) Bhanadaras These are check dams or diversion weirs built across rivers. A
traditional system found in Maharashtra. Where a bandhara was built across
a small stream, the water supply would usually last for a few months after
the rains.

35 | P a g e
d) Phad The community-managed Phad irrigation system, prevalent in north-
western Maharashtra, probably came into existence some 300-400 years
ago. The system starts with a bandhara (check dam or diversion-weir) built
across a rivers. From the bandharas branch out kalvas (canals) to carry water
into the fields.

e) Kere Tanks, called kere in Kannada, were the predominant traditional

method of irrigation in the Central Karnataka Plateau, and were fed either by
channels branching off from anicuts (chech dams) built across streams, or by
streams in valleys.

f) The Ramtek model It has been named after water harvesting structures in
the town of Ramtek, Maharashtra. A scientific analysis revealed an intricate
network of groundwater and surface waterbodies, intrinsically connected
through surface and underground canals. A fully evolved system, this model
harvested runoff through tanks, supported by high yielding wells and
structures like baories, kundis, and waterholes. This system, intelligently
designed to utlise every raindrop falling in the watershed area is
disintegrating due to neglect and ignorance.

11. Western Ghats:

Surangam Kasaragod district in the northern Malabar region of Kerala is an
area whose people cannot depend directly on surface water. The terrain is

36 | P a g e
such that there is high discharge in rivers in the monsoon and low discharge
in the dry months. People here depend, therefore on groundwater, and on a
special water harvesting structure called surangam.The word surangam is
derived from a Kannada word for tunnel. It is also known as thurangam,
thorapu, mala, etc, in different parts of Kasaragod. It is a horizontal well
mostly excavated in hard laterite rock formations. The excavation continues
until a good amount of water is struck. Water seeps out of the hard rock and
flows out of the tunnel. This water is usually collected in an open pit
constructed outside the surangam.

12. Western Coastal plains :

Virdas Virdas are shallow wells dug in low depressions called jheels (tanks).
They are found all over the Banni grasslands, a part of the Great Rann of
Kutch in Gujarat. They are systems built by the nomadic Maldharis, who used
to roam these grasslands.

13. Eastern ghats:

Korambus Korambu is a temporary dam stretching across the mouth of

channels, made of brushwood, mud and grass. It is constructed by
horizontally fixing a strong wooden beam touching either banks of the canal.
A series of vertical wooden beams of appropriate height is erected with their
lower ends resting firmly on the ground and the other ends tied to the
horizontal beam. Closely knitted or matted coconut thatch is tied to this
frame. A coat of mud is applied to the matted frame. A layer of grass is also
applied carefully which prevents dissolution of the applied mud. Korambu is
constructed to raise the water level in the canal and to divert the water into
field channels.

37 | P a g e
14. Eastern coastal plains:

a) Eri: Approximately one-third of the irrigated area of Tamil Nadu is watered

by eris (tanks). Eris have played several important roles in maintaining
ecological harmony as flood-control systems, preventing soil erosion and
wastage of runoff during periods of heavy rainfall, and recharging the
groundwater in the surrounding areas.

b) Ooranis: The tanks, in south Travancore, though numerous, were in most

cases oornis containing just enough water to cultivate the few acres of land
dependent on them. The irregular topography of the region and the absence
of large open spaces facilitated the construction of only small tanks unlike
large ones seen in Tamil Nadu.

15. The Islands:

Jackwells The shompentribals here made full use of the topography to

harvest water. In lower parts of the undulating terrain, bunds were made
using logs of hard bullet wood, and water would collect in the pits so
formed. They make extensive use of split bamboos in their water harvesting
systems. 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

38 | P a g e
Jackwells.

8. Reasons for decline of Traditional water systems:

There is no denying the fact that traditional forms of water harvesting

systems have declined over a period of time for various reasons. But the
positive thing emerging from the hinterlands of India are the renewed
efforts by locals, villagers, civil societies and academicians with or without
the support of Governments to resuscitate dying water bodies or bringing
back traditional forms of water harvesting systems. It’s imperative to
understand why such invaluable traditional knowledge faded into oblivion
only to be resurrected now with great efforts. Some of the concurrent
reasons attributed by scholars are,

i. Neglect of policy makers towards traditional existing structures, lack of

innovative methods to deal with water related issues12

ii. Growing use of subsidised energized system (subsisidised electrical

powers) to exploit deep aquifers

12
https://terrepolicycentre.com/journal/traditional-methods-of-water-conservation.pdf

39 | P a g e
 iii. Lack of interest on community in participation in preservation of
traditional structures

iv. Some tanks have been encroached for farming, sand mining,
expansion of city, waste dumping, industry etc

v. Pollution of water due to sewage and industrial waste

9. Role of colonial rule:

9.1 It is a raging debate whether it was the British rule which expedited
the decline of the traditional knowledge and practice of water harvesting
methods.

9.2 It’s a common refrain that the British policies related to centralization
and optimizing revenue collection had a decisive role in the demise of the
water harvesting systems. The village-based water management systems
inflicted a deathly blow by the emergence of state-controlled bureaucracies
and increasing land revenue. The land revenue was extracted to an extent
that in drought years it frequently meant handing over the entire crop in the
form of taxes.13

9.3 The impoverished village communities could no longer raise enough

internal resources to manage their irrigation structures and thus agriculture
and incomes declined to a point that undivided India became a nation
chronically affected by famines and destitution. Much of the current crisis of
water in the region goes back to these times when traditional systems were
substituted for reasons of economic exploitation and the vital link of living in
harmony with the environment was snapped. Additionally, lack of holistic

13
Agarwal, A. and Narain, S. (1997). Dying Wisdom. State of India‟s Environment: A citizen‟s Report. 4. New
Delhi. Centre for Science and Environment.

40 | P a g e
approach to water management due to the compartmentalized
administrative structure also exacerbated the decline of traditional
knowledge of water conservation.

9.4 The issue has been analyzed in several scholarly reports and research
papers. In some it has been argued that the concept of rainwater harvesting
was absent in British natural resources policy, mainly because of the drastic
difference in the weather conditions of the nations. While India receives
most of the rainfall during two months of monsoon, Britain has a temperate
rainfall pattern which is equally distributed across the year. The British
authority, therefore, could afford to treat water “as given, to be used at will”
(Vani 2009).

9.5 Harvesting of water was, therefore, not a requirement in Britain. Due

to the harsh cold climatic conditions use of water excessively other than in
agriculture was unheard of. Reportedly, the main purpose of water was to
for agriculture (Harvey).

9.6 It is not difficult to conclude that in view of the above the British
colonizers in India continued to treat water as a prime resource for
agriculture only, which can be used to raise revenue at will. Incidentally,
traditional water harvesting structures which had multiple uses were de-
legitimized and categorized as minor irrigation systems.

14
9.7 On the reasons for decline of traditional water harvesting systems,
the work by Sengupta (1980) and Rosin (1993) are noteworthy. Rosin argued
that the local people of western Rajasthan perceived harvesting of rainwater

14
Decline of traditional water harvesting systems during British India: Exploring the issues of „knowledge
incompatibility‟, „breaking down of commons‟ and „free ridership‟ Saradindu Bhaduri , Anushree Singh
Center for Studies in Science Policy JNU, New Delhi

41 | P a g e
through groundwater recharge and established a direct relationship
between their surface water storage facilities and quality and supply of soil
and groundwater. Furthermore, Rosin discussed that removing accumulated
silts in turn improved the permeability of the bed to increase infiltration
rates for soaking and recharge according to local understanding. But the
British hydrologic engineers‟ viewed high groundwater levels as threat to
kinds of irrigation systems they built. They were not in favour of removing
silt from the bed of the dam either because soakage through dam bed or
through walls of canal may contribute to water logging and high loss of
surface water diverted from irrigation.

15
9.8 Sengupta‟s (1980) work informs that the British changed the existing
community organisational structure in South Bihar. There existed
interdependency of land and water during pre-British period which was
disrupted in the British period after the introduction of land rights in the
country. The ahar-pyne system of irrigation practiced in south Bihar decayed
primarily because of shift from produce rent system to fixed rent system
after the introduction of Tenancy Act (1885), which came into force in Bihar
in 1904.

9.9 Before the British rule, the irrigation system was maintained by the
local people and patronised by the zamindars. Sengupta (1980: 73) points
out that “once the rents were fixed, and the zamindars had nothing to lose
by decline in irrigation, they stopped taking care of those works. In addition,
in order to increase their income, they sought another course of action by
using irrigation works as the level of control.”

9.10 It is imperative to note that with time and situation as

15
do

42 | P a g e
aforementioned, the zamindars became less interested in maintenance of
these structures which led to the decline of ahar-pyne system. Thus, to
summarise, while Sengupta (1980) emphasises on how the British rule
disrupted the social organisation of such systems, Rosin (1993) focuses on
the incomplete understanding of local ecological characteristics by the
British.

9.12 Further, it’s important to understand the concept of property and

property rights in pre-British and British Indian periods. In pre British period,
in India property did not reflect ownership rather shared rights on land
existed. Although the zamindars or the ruler could sell or lease the land but
could not sell various other rights people had on that same piece of land. In
the words of Embree (pp. 46)

“one might have absolute rights of a certain kind in a piece of

land, but others might also have rights of another kind, equally
absolute, in it. Alienation of these rights was possible, but not
alienation of the land itself in a way that excluded the exercise of
the rights enjoyed by others.”

9.13 The idea of claims of interests was apparently in operation. Layers of

rights existed on common lands which protected interests of people of the
community. As a result, there emerged a variety of land rights, where rights
of various kinds were superimposed on each other (Hasan 1969).

9.14 The exercise of rights came with a set of duties for management of
land in the pre Mughal and Mughal periods. D‟Souza (2004) argues that the
Mughals absorbed the existing infrastructure of the previous regime giving a
sense of continuity of the legal framework on land rights through the Mughal

43 | P a g e
period. This showed a strong community ownership of common property.

9.15 Embree (1969) mentions J. H. Nelson in his writings that “ordinary

people had no idea of meum [mine] and tuum [yours] and spoke always of
ours” not “mine”. A thing of value was regarded as being part of an
aggregate, rather than belonging to a single person”.

9.16 In pre-British India, the questions relating to property were dealt with
in caste panchayats or some other form of group organization which was
regional and local. The law courts that British inherited in Bengal had one of
their functions of settling disputes between landlords and tenants but it did
not survive for very long. New concepts and definitions of property gave rise
to different kinds of problems, and the new courts were required to solve
such property related problems (Embree 1969).

9.17 The British colonizers dismantled the complex yet delicate network of
rights to create a clear demarcation of property rights placing land either in
individual hands or in the hands of the State. To simplify the system they
also took measure which separated the rights on land from rights on water,
and made laws to incorporate almost all water bodies under the ownership
of the state.

9.18 Arguably, the most adverse impact on the concept of RWH was this
separation of land, forest and water resources under different legal and
administrative systems. The preamble to the Limitation Acts (1859-71), the
Northern India Canal and Drainage Act 1873, the Bengal Irrigation Act, 1876
and the Specific Relief Act, I (1877) reflected that the Provincial Government
was entitled to use and control for public purposes the water of all rivers and
streams flowing in natural channels and other natural collections of still

44 | P a g e
water. These Acts do not mention about varied patterns of rights on these
water bodies that existed in pre-British India, and instead, bestowed the
State the exclusive authority to use and control water (Vani 2009). As Vani
succinctly puts it:

“The colonial period of history abruptly suspended the practice of

rainwater harvesting and the modes of governance that enabled
it. They were supplanted by an alien „scientific‟ perspective,
environmental philosophy, political economy and governance
systems” (Vani 2009:169).

9.19 A separate department of irrigation was formed by the State, creating

a centralized government-driven system for maintaining varied water
structures in India: tanks, tankas, kunds, baolis, wells, canals and large dams.
This department had fixed procedures for maintaining the structures which
did not always match the conventional diverse procedures for maintenance
and use of the system by villagers (Jacob 2008).

9.20 Thus the basic difference in Indian and British approach was shared
responsibility as against individual rights. Thus, the difference in the British
and the Indian concept of property rested on historical differences on
concept of individual rights. Moreover, Indian system of property rights were
often based on shared understanding at a local level. It did not give the
absolute supremacy to either the individual or the state as owners of
property, rather portrayed complex social relations and responsibilities,
facilitated by the State but not to be controlled by the State.

9.21 The British laws brought water bodies under state control which was a
death knell to the traditional knowledge. Further alterations in the water

45 | P a g e
bodies were intended only for agriculture which employed, “engineers‟,
“labours‟ and “machinery‟-deviating from the earlier practice of employing
local people in construction and repair of water harvesting facilities. Thus,
use of local knowledge became prohibitively difficult under this new regime
of ownership.

9.22 In other words, the layers of rights which existed on common lands
among the local people broke down. Since, rights were strongly linked with
“duty‟ and “obligation‟ in the Indian legal discourse, a removal of rights got
translated in to removal of obligation and duties. The knowledge of
rainwater harvesting which existed in the community was shared knowledge
which people had and rights existing among the individuals for the common
land protected the interests of people.

9.23 Hence it can be concluded that there existed since ancient times a
sense of strong community bonding and the subsequent denial of access to
commons destroyed community itself as Gudeman and Rivera (2001: 360)
argues. They stated that

“taking away the commons destroys community, and destroying a

complex of relationships demolishes a commons. Likewise,
denying others access to the commons denies community with
them, which is exactly what the assertion of private property right
does.”

10. Revival of traditional knowledge-Success stories:

16
10.1 Water Gandhi :
i. Ayyappa Masagi’s popularly referred to as Water Magician, Water
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 Gandhi, and Water Doctor firmly believes that soon India can
manage its water resources well and be a water-efficient
country. Ayyappa Masagi has successfully implemented water
conservation projects across states, industries, farms, and homes.
He has also recharged more borewells and constructed more lakes
than probably anyone else in the country.

ii. An engineer by training who left L & T to work in the field towards
his passion. And it is his experiences with agriculture that made
him study water in his later years.

“In my childhood we faced plenty of water problems. I used to

wake up with my mother at 3 am to go and fetch water. This used
to happen so often that I took an oath to try and conserve water
every day. In fact, throughout my growing years, I thought of ways
to conserve water,” he says.

iii. In a brilliant article, India’s Water Warrior has a Solution for India’s
Droughts. The Best Part – We Can Play a Role Too! by Meryl Garcia,

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 his tryst with hardships in pursuit of his dreams are conveyed in his
own words.

“In this dry region, I planted crops like rubber and coffee. I wanted
to prove that one could grow these crops with whatever rain one
gets. Though I was successful in the first two years my crops soon dried
up due to a severe drought. The year after that, they were destroyed
by floods. Though people mocked me at that point, I didn’t take it to heart.
I was determined to find a solution,” he says.

iv. In 2004, Ayyappa received the Ashoka Fellowship for his conservation
efforts.

v. A year later, he established the Water Literacy Foundation, in a bid

to reach out to more people and spread the message of
conservation.

vi. The article notes that Ayyappa has orchestrated thousands of

conservation projects across 11 states. He has also created over 600
lakes in the country, for which he found mention in the Limca Book
of Records.

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vii. His years of passion associated with water conservation is
translated in the following simple understandable language. He
considers the earth to be the biggest filter. He captures the water,
filters it and then stores it underground. His pit-based rainwater
harvesting system is a structure made of boulders, gravel, sand, and
mud. When it rains, water trickles through the gravel and sand. It
slowly charges the subsoil. This process continues and ensures the
soil is always charged with water. This method also prevents water
from evaporating.

17
10.2 Rainwater recharges borewells :

i. Citizens in Pune city facing acute water shortage due to depleting

groundwater levels, acute water scarcity and inadequate and erratic
municipal supply came together to catch and store rainwater to
meet their water needs. Many residential complexes in the area
were dependent on water tankers that supplied poor quality water
and put a considerable economic burden on people. This is when
the citizens decided to do something about it and decided to use
rainwater to recharge borewells and raise the water table. The
mechanisms for catching, storing and diverting rainwater to
recharge borewells were planned depending on the location of the
complexes.

ii. Citizens from the residential complexes came together and

determined not to waste a single drop of rainwater, made it a
reality despite going through several obstacles. The successful

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 implementation of the model to conserve water, has inspired over
60 other complexes to take up the effort. Moreover, an NGO,
Mission Groundwater, has also been started to spread this
movement further.

10.3 School shows the way:

i. Bishop Cotton School in Shimla has emerged as an example worth

emulating, especially for residential schools in the hills that have high
water demand but low supply. The school, which was established in
1859, started experiencing water shortages due to stressed water supply
in the region and rising strength of students. Initially, the school
managed by hiring water tankers. However, a permanent solution was
essential. This is when Mathew Jacob, the estate supervisor at the school
thought of undertaking rainwater harvesting.

ii. In 1992, the school implemented rooftop rainwater harvesting and the
quantity of water available started to gradually increase. The school can
now compensate the inadequate supply of municipal water and
dependence on water tankers during the lean months as around 3 lakh
litres of rainwater is harvested. In April 2006, the school also set an
example by filling its swimming pool with around two lakh litres of water
by diverting rainwater flowing out through the open drains to the pool
downhill without any expense.

10.4 Service-Learning Program (SLP):

i. Service Learning Program (SLP) initiated in 2014, is a parent-led,

student driven and teacher supported program that enables students
to gain real life experiences on how to overcome problems efficiently

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 while learning how to treat others with love, respect, compassion and
empathy. Also, the program gives students opportunities to work hard
to empower the communities around. SLP team in recent times
undertook the project known as "Be wise, water wise", where they
aimed to restore and provide efficient water supply to
Kadusonapanahalli, a village about 2 km away from our school.

ii. While improving and helping fellow society members, they spread out
the word and raised awareness of water saving projects through
parents and sports meets. They also installed an Aquaponics system, a
modern method of farming, which uses only 90 percent of water, in
the school.

18
10.5 The efforts of the Baigas :

i. Nested amongst the Satprura hills lies Kapoti, a village in the Dindori
district of Madhya Pradesh. This region is known as Baiga Chak and is
inhabited by Baigas, a vulnerable tribal group. Following a simple
lifestyle, Baigas have been a self-provisioning, self-determining and
nearly self-sufficient community residing in the resource rich highland
forest regions in small hamlets for generations.

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pradesh

51 | P a g e
ii. The dense forest, its flora and fauna and water are the main sources of
sustenance for this community. Rice and millets form their staple diet
and they supplement it with seeds, grains, roots, leaves and fruits of
numerous wild plants, which abound in the forest.

iii. Things have however, changed in the past few decades. The village
elders recall the time when streams flowing in the forests were full of
water for most part of the year. Springs, which are a major source of
drinking water used to yield freshwater all through the year.

iv. Anthropogenic pressures resulting in loss of forest cover coupled with

changes in the micro-climate of the region has impacted the
availability of water. Declining water tables and degradation of the
catchment have made people vulnerable. The impact of water scarcity
has manifested in girls and women spending hours to fetch drinking
water, often walking miles to reach the source.

v. In 2017, when WaterAid India began work across 52 villages including

Kapoti in 3 blocks of Dindori district in Madhya Pradesh, their
approach was to revitalise the springs ensuring year-round availability
of drinking water for the Baigas.

vi. Engaging communities in each and every activity was fundamental to

their aim of ensuring water security. They constructed a spring
chamber - a square-shaped mini pond like structure at the source of
the spring to ensure its protection. A pipeline bought water from this
chamber to the filter tank. This system works on the simple principle
of gravity. Water from this spring chamber is directed into a three-
chambered distribution tank where it is filtered using the slow sand

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 filtration technique. Finally, the filtered water is stored in a tank
having a capacity of 9,600 liters from where it supplied to individual
stand posts placed in front of every household in the village.

vii. The ‘Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustaining Groundwater Use

through Village-level Intervention’ (MARVI) project is being
undertaken since February 2012 with the overall aim to improve the
security of irrigation water supplies and enhance livelihood
opportunities for rural communities in India.

viii. MARVI – An innovative approach for village level groundwater

management. The MARVI project is focused on developing a village
level participatory approach, models and tools to assist in improving
groundwater supplies and reducing its demand through the direct
involvement of farmers and other affected stakeholders. A unique
feature of MARVI is the use of scientific measurements by citizens
through the engagement of Bhujal Jankaars , a Hindi word meaning
‘groundwater informed’ volunteers.

11. The classic case of Delhi:

11.1 Delhi is dependent on other States for its water19. 780 out of 900
million gallons supplied everyday is sourced from other states. Delhi’s
primary source of water is the Yamuna, which travels through water-scarce
Haryana before reaching the city. Out of the 900 million gallons of water that
the Delhi Jal Board distributes every day, 540 million gallons come from
Haryana. Any trouble in the neighbouring state can, and does, spell trouble
for Delhi’s water supply. The Yamuna, which is barely even a river in Delhi
anymore, also feeds and raises the water table in east Delhi.
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53 | P a g e
11.2 The Upper Ganga Canal is the second most important source of water
supplying close to 240 million gallons daily. Delhi’s own water resources
contribute a paltry 120 million gallons. And they come from natural water
bodies, underground water and recycled water.

11.3 But historically Delhi had created a name for itself in not only water
self-sufficiency but also in unique water harvesting ways. Delhi had some
800 waterbodies, natural and man-made, according to the Indian National
Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. Many still survive but are not
recognizable as waterbodies anymore; some are just little puddles while
many others are covered with muck and water hyacinth. The city can be
broadly divided into the Yamuna floodplains that is mostly sandy and alluvial,
and the rocky landscape of the Aravalli Hills. Each had its own take on how to
manage water.

11.4 Not only inside the city, but along the trade routes also the roads were
replete with water sources, mostly man made. Wells and their sister
structures, baolis, formed the centrepiece of oases built by merchants or
rulers along trade routes. Called sarais, each was built around a water source
for caravans. Some were wells, others were the more spectacular baolis, or
stepwells. Several still survive, such as Agrasen ki Baoli in Connaught Place,
Gandak ki Baoli in Mehrauli, the baolis of Tughlaqabad Fort, Firozshah Kotla,
and something that looks like a baoli in Sanjay Van that probably belonged to
Lal Kot, the city of the Anangpal Rajputs.

11.5 Some important historic water sources included a large network of

streams which have been reduced to sewage channels now. The most
prominent is the Sahibi River, a seasonal stream that rises in the Sirmaur
Hills in Rajasthan, flows through Haryana and Delhi before joining the

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Yamuna shortly after it enters the city. It used to carry only rainwater, from
Haryana to Delhi, in season but now is a sewage canal called the Najafgarh
drain, and the biggest source of polluted water in the Yamuna River.

11.6 Another important water harvesting structures were the baolis. The
best-preserved baoli is probably Agrasen ki Baoli, built by the eponymous
Agrasen who is said to be the founder of the Agrawal clan. The other baolis
that are still recognisable are the Gandak Baoli and Rajon ka Baoli in
Mehrauli, a small one in the Old Fort and a round one in Ferozshah Kotla.

11.7 Delhi has a lot of ponds, mostly artificial and some natural. The Indian
National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage estimates there are about 700
big and small waterbodies, of which just a few are artificial. Some date back
to the Tomar Rajputs who ruled the city from AD 736–1192. The largest
surviving one is the Anangpur dam in Faridabad that formed the Badhkal
lake. This was made by Anangpal, also of the Tomar dynasty. Nearby there is
Suraj Kund. This ancient structure has been rendered infructuous by rampant
construction nearby.

12. Conclusion:

12.1 The subcontinent has been mining groundwater which may be as

much as 7000 years old. Groundwater subsurface storage dams are small-
scale options to conserve and efficiently tap it. Traditional water harvesting
systems have passed the test of time and are suited to economic
environments but a mere replication of the past may be counterproductive.

12.2 There is an urgent need to review the region’s irrigation policies as

they have been practiced over the last five decades. It is essential to
rehabilitate the traditional systems that already exist. This activity should

55 | P a g e
become part of employment guarantee programmes and other schemes of
land and water improvement.

12.3 It may be an opportune time for India to leverage the tenets of LiFE
and the G 0 presidency to energize efforts towards this end of water
conservation for reversing ill effects of climate change. The tents of LiFE as
we shall see are a leitmotif in every major policy goals in recent times.

12.4 In a compendium released in this regard, namely, ‘Prayaas Se

Prabhaav Tak – From Mindless Consumption to Mindful Utilization’ the
following traditional best practices from India that form the pivots of LiFE
were highlighted,

i. Responsible Consumption by taking only as much as is needed, using

products to the end of their lives, and repurposing or recycling
whatever is left over.

ii. Circular Economy to improve resource efficiency, minimize waste and

emissions to reduce the carbon footprint and improve ecological
handprint.

iii. Living in Harmony with Nature by practising the philosophy

of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam' (the World in One Family) and living a life
with compassion for all living beings.

iv. Sustainable Resource Management through mindful and deliberate

utilisation of the available resources and to reduce overconsumption
and promote equitable access to resources.

v. Coexistence and Cooperation among countries and communities

through the promotion of science and innovation, knowledge

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 exchange, dissemination of best practices, and conservation of
traditional knowledge systems.

12.4 It’s therefore seen that LiFE is a framework to guide governments,

institutions, and societies to move towards optimal and efficient utilization
of resources. LiFE stands for Learning’s, Infrastructure, Facilitators and
Enabling conditions for Mindful utilizations.

12.5 At this juncture it is imperative to convert this idea into a mass

movement/Jan Andolan by integrating behavioural economics into policies
towards its implementation. LiFE requires a nudging approach to include
individual and collective actions towards the protection and preservation of
the environment and in not only resuscitating water bodies but also creating
new ones for the future generations by catching the rain when it falls, where
it falls.

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2. Dying wisdom: the decline and revival of traditional water harvesting

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