Traditional Systems of Water Management in India - (Arnav-2013MUD007)
Traditional Systems of Water Management in India - (Arnav-2013MUD007)
Traditional Systems of Water Management in India - (Arnav-2013MUD007)
MANAGEMENT IN INDIA
Introduction:
Water is the key to development and sustenance of all communities. Under conditions of
increasing stress on this essential renewable but scarce natural resource, effective and
efficient management of water is emerging as an urgent contemporary issue. The realisation
of its limited availability in space and time has necessitated the designing of new globally
viable water management regimes aiming at striking a balance between the use of water as
a basis for livelihood and its protection to help ensure its sustainability through present to
future generations. (Agarwal et al., 2000)
India is no exception to this emergent global trend and over the last couple of decades;
new water management interventions are being designed and implemented throughout the
country in anticipation of improved water management practices (RGNDWM, 2000). Broadly
speaking, these interventions enunciate water management regimes based on participatory
approaches where involvement of all stakeholders in universally defined water management
structures is the key strategy. There is much emphasis on involvement of water users in
decision-making processes; strengthening of local institutions; incorporation of traditional
knowledge, skills, practices, etc.
However, these participatory approaches invite criticism as being alien and top-down in
origin, plagued by the assumption that the communities to which the local users belong lack
any operational water management system or if there are any, these are irrational,
narrowly pragmatic or in the process of disappearance (Wolfe et al., 1992). If water is a
basic resource necessary for sustaining human activities, its provision in the desired quantity
and quality and at the right time and place must be seen as a constant human endeavour
in all communities, whether traditional or modern. The question of existence and the form of
traditional localized water management arrangements appear to have been little valued
in the modern globalized water development and management context.
Indeed, a majority of the local communities in India where water management takes place
are rural in nature, organised in villages that are also the smallest viable social units in the
rural milieu. How is water management traditionally organised in the rural Indian localities so
that the needs of the community are met through generations? What implications do such
systems based in local situated knowledge & practices hold for the global water
management context? Answers to these questions are sought in the paper through a
Water has been harvested in India since antiquity, with our ancestors perfecting the art of
water management. Many water harvesting structures and water conveyance systems
specific to the eco-regions and culture has been developed.
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.
I.
II.
WESTERN HIMALAYA:
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.
2. 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.
III.
IV.
1. Cheo-ozihi
The river Mezii flows along the Angami village of Kwigema in Nagaland. The riverwater 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. This channel irrigates a large
number of terraces in Kwigwema, and some terraces in the neighbouring village. There are
three khels and the village water budget is divided among these
V.
VI.
VII.
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.
Jhalaras
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.
First designed by the Paliwal Brahmins of Jaisalmer, western Rajasthan in the 15th century, this
system has great similarity with the irrigation methods of the people of Ur (present Iraq)
around 4500 BC and later of the Nabateans in the Middle East. A similar system is also
reported to have been practised 4,000 years ago in the Negev desert, and in southwestern
Colorado 500 years ago
6.
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. Now
settled, they persist in using virdas.
These structures harvest rainwater. The topography of the area is undulating, with depressions
on the ground. By studying the flow of water during the monsoon, the Maldharis identify
these depressions and make their virdas there.
Essentially, the structures use a technology that helps the Maldharis separate potable
freshwater from unpotable salt water. After rainwater infiltrates the soil, it gets stored at a
level above the salty groundwater because of the difference in their density. A structure is
built to reach down (about 1 m) to this upper layer of accumulated rainwater. Between
these two layers of sweet and saline water, there exists a zone of brackish water. As
freshwater is removed, the brackish water moves upwards, and accumulates towards the
bottom of the virda.
Conclusion:
Since water is basic to life, the history of survival of local communities in rural India bears a
testimony to the existence of innovative approaches and sustainable practices in water
management. These are indigenously designed in history and passed on through generations
as informal organizations, intricately enmeshed in the overall socio-cultural matrix. It can be
further contested that these are by no means narrowly pragmatic or irrational nor are they
in the process of disappearing. These traditions are extremely complex, consisting of a series
of cognitive layers, in this case embodied in the ideational and operational domains of
the water management system. These layers, also identifiable as components of the
resources management system, are intricately woven into the overall socio-cultural matrix of
these communities and may not be meaningful in isolation.
Bibliography:
Agarwal, A., delos Angeles, M. S., Bhatia, R., Cheret, I., Davila-Poblete, S.,
Falkenmark, M.,
RGNDWM, 2000. Guidelines for implementation of rural water supply program.
Department of drinking water supply, Ministry of rural development, New Delhi.
Nandita Singh, Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering, Royal Institute
of Technology, Stockholm, Water management traditions in rural India: Valuing the
unvalued
Manish Rajankar, Traditional Water Management Systems of Eastern Vidarbha:
Community Conservation-1
http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org