Curiosity

In terms of water prosperity our country India has been blessed with various water gifts from Mother Nature. Fresh water lakes, rivers, ponds, aquifers and the monsoons to replenish them year after year.

India has always since ancient times has had a history of floods and droughts. So, over the ages the Indian civilisation had learnt the need and implementation of water harvesting, drainage system and storage of water. Different parts of the country follow different techniques based on the geographical uniqueness of that place, like the weather and land type.

Though various indigenous water collecting and storage methods are followed across India like baolis, kunds, katas, bandhs etc., let's look at some of the most amazing, scientific, practical and rich traditional techniques of water conservation and management systems, that are followed in our country.

1. Zing - In J&K, Ladakah - the water of melting glaciers is collected in small tanks called Zing. Water from the melting glacier is brought to the tanks through a network of channels. It starts with a trickle in the morning and turns into a flowing stream by the afternoon. The water thus collected by the evening, is used in the fields on the following day.

2. Zabo - In Nagaland - conservation of forests is the basic step of water conservation as they form the main catchment areas. The water from these forests is diverted through channels from the hilltops to the reservoirs below. This harvested water carries a lot of organic matter with it which serves as nutrients for the farmlands.

3. Bamboo Drip irrigation - In Meghalaya - bamboo channels are used to divert the water from a source such as a spring through an intricate system of bamboo channels. It reaches the fields where it serves the irrigation purposes.

4. Panam Keni - In Kerala the native tribe of Wayanad harvests water in a unique way. The stems of toddy palms are soaked in water till their core rots away. Wooden cylinders of the leftover hard outer layer, which are nearly 4 feet in diameter are immersed in groundwater springs. This holds water even in the hottest months of the year.

5. Jackwells - In Nicobar Islands the Shompen tribe uses Jackwells for water harvesting. These are small pits encircled by bunds made from logs of hard wood. Full length bamboo strips split longitudinally are placed on gentle slopes under trees to collect and channelize the runoff water from leaves. The entire system is constructed keeping in mind gravity so that a natural flow is maintained.

With time as we drift away to modernisation and urbanisation we in India can very well resolve the water crisis, inevitable in future, by reviving our age-old water conservation techniques of diverting, channelizing, harvesting, storing and restoring the rain and ground water.

Ramveer Tanwar
Reviving Dead Lakes

In India the state of various water bodies has been a concern for some time.

RamveerTanwar, a 25-year-old engineer by profession quit his job at an MNC and started his journey as an active environmentalist. He was passionate about water conservation during his days in B.tech., his inspiration being Vikrant Tongad who is a well-known environmentalist.

In April 2018, summer had begun and the water situation was so adverse that UP government had declared 6 districts draught affected. Ramveer belonged to a family where generations had worked as farmers and knew and understood the dire situation of the water reservoirs in the area. So, he started a water conservation campaign with his fellow college mates and the children he taught. The people of the area understood the campaign but never contributed to it as they themselves were exploiting the resources.

Ramveer then started a program called "Jal Choupal" where gatherings and rallies were conducted village to village in many districts. In the Dabra district, Ramveer took upon himself to revive the one-time existing beautiful lake, that had got garbage laden over the years leading the lake to being perpetually dead. During the initial stages of the project, to revive the lake in Dabra, despite many hurdles the project started in 2015. Many villagers came to aid by providing either labour forces or tools and equipments to help remove tonnes of garbage and restore the lake to its glory. The government also helped in providing plants to plant on the banks on order to facilitate the filtration process in order to rejuvenate the ground water.

Currently Ramveer Tanwar is running his own NGO and is working as an environmentalist. Since 2015 Ramveer Tanwar has revived around 10 lakes in and around UP.