Traditional Water Management
Traditional Water Management Systems is 5000 years worth of traditional ecological knowledge in the field of water conservation. Water harvesting is an integral part of India's culture and ecological history. And like other traditional ecological knowledge of India, traditional water management has been backed up by strong religious traditions and sanctions. Water is a sacred element and around India, rivers, ponds and lakes have been sanctified with temples on their banks. |  Wai (Maharashtra): temples on the sacred Krishna river |
India doesn’t have a particularly dry climate. It receives an average of 4,000 billion cubic meters of rainfall every year. Believe it or not but India receives in an average as much rain as most European countries!! The average rainfall in India is 715 mm per year, more than Germany (603mm) or France (619mm).
What differentiate India from European countries is that India gets 75 percent of its rainfall in the four months of the summer monsoon season. Therefore, unlike other countries which receive precipitations throughout the year, India has to conserve water for the dry season, for those 8 months that will not see a single drop of rain.
What differentiate India from European countries is that India gets 75 percent of its rainfall in the four months of the summer monsoon season. Therefore, unlike other countries which receive precipitations throughout the year, India has to conserve water for the dry season, for those 8 months that will not see a single drop of rain.
Lingmala waterfall - Mahabalshwar (Maharashtra)
In ancient times, Indians built very elaborate and locally adapted water harvesting structures that collected and stored the monsoon precipitations. Rainwater harvesting has been the way of life of Indians since time immemorial. India’s civilization wouldn’t have thrived for 5000 years without its expertise in water harvesting.
In the ancient city of Mohenjo daro in the floodplains of the Indus Valley, 700 wells have been counted. Wells were a distinguishing feature of the Harappan cities of 3000BC. In fact, the people of the Indus Valley would have probably invented wells. Indus cities were known for spectacular town planning and their drainage systems, wells and water storage systems would have been the most sophisticated in the ancient world. Another prove that Harappan people harvested water to irrigate the land is that they cultivated winter crops such as barley and wheat.
Kautilya's Arthashastra, a treatise written in 3rd BC on government and economics, indicates that people harvested water and the state helped for the construction of irrigation works. People had appropriate irrigation techniques and constructed irrigations systems and dams.
In the ancient city of Mohenjo daro in the floodplains of the Indus Valley, 700 wells have been counted. Wells were a distinguishing feature of the Harappan cities of 3000BC. In fact, the people of the Indus Valley would have probably invented wells. Indus cities were known for spectacular town planning and their drainage systems, wells and water storage systems would have been the most sophisticated in the ancient world. Another prove that Harappan people harvested water to irrigate the land is that they cultivated winter crops such as barley and wheat.
Kautilya's Arthashastra, a treatise written in 3rd BC on government and economics, indicates that people harvested water and the state helped for the construction of irrigation works. People had appropriate irrigation techniques and constructed irrigations systems and dams.
All South Indian dynasties, the Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Kadambas, Chalukyas, Hoysalas, and the Vijayanagar kings are known to have sponsored the construction of innumerable water harvesting structures and tanks. Rulers provided the funds and people provided the labour to build the structures and maintain them. Traditionally, there were irrigation functionaries to look after the day-to-day functioning of the irrigation system or water work. They were called Nirkattis. Their work was to distribute water to farmers by opening the sluices of the tanks. That was done according to certain regulations decided by the community. Thanks to these ingenious water management systems, people's water requirements have been met for centuries.
|  Temple tank in Tamil Nadu |
This rich heritage in water management needs to be recollected and adapted to suit today's conditions. As water harvesting structures have disappeared, only 18% of monsoon precipitations can be utilized. With no effort to store those millions of liters that bless the country during the monsoon, India, like never before in its 5000 years of civilization, is increasingly dependent on its groundwater resources which are fast getting depleted.
Rann of Kutch
