Traditional water harvesting structures and sustainable water management in India: a socio-hydrological review

• Autorzy: Bhattacharya S.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Water harvesting systems are traditional technologies that have met the needs of local populations for many centuries indicating the systems are clearly sustainable. It is simply defined as a method for inducing, collecting, storing and conserving local surface run-off for future productive use. It is one of the oldest and most commonly used sustainable water management systems in India. There are various types of systems to harvest rainwater in India ranging from very simple to the complex industrial systems. Examples of traditional rainwater systems in India include bamboo pipes and Apatani systems of eastern Himalayas, Ghul of western Himalayas, Zabo and Cheo-ozihi of north eastern India, Dongs, Garh and Dara of Brahmaputra valley, Kund, Khadin, Talabs, Beri, Johad, Baoli etc. of Thar desert and Gujrat, the Havelis of Jabalpur, bandh and bandhulia of Satna, virda of Gujarat, ahar-pynes of Bihar, Eri and Kulam of eastern coastal plains, Jackwells of islands, most of which showed immense structural simplicity and high efficiency. Almost all forts in India, built in different terrains and climatic conditions, had elaborate arrangements for drinking water. Most of the old temples in south India built centuries ago have large tanks in their premises. These tanks are either fed by harvested rain water or by tapping underground springs. The traditional water-wisdom at all levels of the society ensured adequate availability of water for all, which in turn, formed the basis for all round development and prosperity. We should again learn and comprehend the ancient knowledge and apply it in our modern society to get rid of the present water stressed condition.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

India; water management; rainwater management; water harvesting; sociological research; hydrological research; sustainable management

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: International Letters of Natural Sciences
• Rocznik: 2015
• Tom: 37
• Opis fizyczny: p.30-38,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Bhattacharya S.

• Department of Environmental Studies, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India

Bibliografia

• [1] Agarwal A., Narain S. (ed.) 1997. Dying wisdom: Rise, fall and potential of India's traditional water harvesting systems. (State of India's Environment – A Citizens' report, No. 4). Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), New Delhi, pp. 11-12.
• [2] Bhalge, P. and Bhavsar, C. 2007. Water management in arid and semi arid zone: Traditional wisdom. International History Seminar on Irrigation and Drainage, Tehran-Iran, pp. 423-428.
• [3] Borthakur, S. 2008. Traditional rain water harvesting techniques and its applicability. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 8(4): 525-530.
• [4] Central Groundwater Board (CGWB). 2011. Select case studies rain harvesting and artificial recharge. Central Groundwater Board, Ministry of Water Resources, New Delhi, pp. 10-11.
• [5] Centre for Science and Environment. Rainwater Harvesting. (Accessed on February, 2015, URL: http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/rural/Traditional3.htm)
• [6] Chhabra B., Gai G. 1981. Inscription of the early Gupta kings in Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol III. Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, pp 296-305.
• [7] Das, S. 2010. Johads of Alwar. Journal of Geological Society India, 75(2): 446–447.
• [8] Davies, P. 1989. The Penguin guide to the monuments of India. London: Viking.
• [9] Dhiman S.C., Gupta S. 2011. Rainwater Harvesting and Artificial Recharge. Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, New Delhi.
• [10] Hussain, J., Husain, I., Arif, M. 2014. Water resources management: traditional technology and communities as part of the solution. Proceedings of ICWRS2014, Bologna, Italy, June 2014, pp. 236-242.
• [11] Li, F., Cook, S., Geballe, G.T. and Burch, W.R., Jr . 2000. Rainwater harvesting agriculture: an integrated system for water management on rain-fed land in China’s semi-arid areas. AMBIO 29, 477–483.
• [12] Ministry of rural development. 2004. Water harvesting and artificial recharge. Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Commission, Govt. of India.
• [13] Mishra, A. 2011. The Radiant Raindrops of Rajasthan. Research foundation for science, technology and ecology, New Delhi, India.
• [14] Oweis, T., Hachum, A. 2006. Water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved water productivity of dry farming systems in West Asia and North Africa. Agricultural Water Management 80, 57–73.
• [15] Reiz, C., Maulder, P., Begemann, L. 1988. Water harvesting for plant production. World Bank Technical Paper 91, Washington, DC, USA.
• [16] Sharma, A. 2006. Water harvesting context in the Indian Subcontinent. UNESCO G-WADI meeting on water harvesting Aleppo Syria 20-22, November, 2006, pp. 63–70.
• [17] Shekhawat, A. Stepwells of Gujarat. India's Invitation. (Accessed on January, 2015, URL: http://www.indiasinvitation.com/stepwells_of_gujarat/)
• [18] Srinivasan, R.K., Babu S.S.V. 2000. A Water Harvesting Manual for Urban Areas. Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, India.
• [19] UNESCO. 2009. World Water Assessment Programme. The United Nations World Water Development Report 3: Water in a changing world. Retrieved April 5, 2011, from: http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/wwdr3/pdf/WWDR3_Water_in_a_Changing_World.pdf

Uwagi

Rekord w opracowaniu