Water Harvesting System In Rajasthan

Traditional rainwater harvesting in rajasthan.

Water harvesting system in rajasthan.

Many ancient water harvesting systems in rajasthan have now been revived. Rph ccl has decided to use rain water harvesting techniques as part of the conservation efforts. Rajasthan has a tradition of building and maintaining rainwater harvesting rwh structures such as johad kuis and kunds. In rajasthan rainwater harvesting has traditionally been practiced by the people of the thar desert.

Till about thirty years back the areas around our home and offices used to be unpaved and the rain falling on these areas would percolate into the soil and remain there for being drawn through shallow open wells. Starting 1984 the last sixteen years have seen the revival of some 3000 johads spread across more than 650 villages in alwar district rajasthan. Water harvesting systems are widely used in other areas of rajasthan as well for example the chauka system from the jaipur district. 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.

The houses in western rajasthan during ancient times were constructed with stone and lime and the roof water was diverted to tankas. Water conservation is a key element of any strategy that aims to alleviate the water scarcity crisis in india. With rainfall patterns changing almost every year the indian government has started looking at means to revive the traditional systems of water harvesting in the country. A taanka are also known as a tanka or kunds is a traditional rainwater harvesting technique common to the thar desert region of rajasthan india.

Traditionally these structures supported life in this water stressed region and were well supported in turn by a system of community ownership. Though the state of rajasthan india s largest state by area and supports about 5 percent of the human population and 20 percent of the livestock it possesses just 1 2 percent of the total surface water and only 1 7 percent of the groundwater available in india.