Rainwater Harvesting

Mr. P. Ganesh of Ayyappa Aqua Solutions has invented a technique of lowering a camera with a flashlight down a borewell hole in order to understand what is going on inside. (Mr. Ganesh specializes in hydrofracturing which is a process of using high pressure water to crumble rock and open up fissures in order to rejuvenate borewells that have gone dry).

This presentation describes Hindalco's Renukoot operations, which included a watershed management project aimed at benefiting farmers of 30 villages in this hilly area where around 65% of the population lives below the poverty line.

This page provides information on the Jala Samvardhane Yojana Sangha (JSYS) site developed by Ministry of Water Resources, Government of Karnataka.

The report highlights how traditionally, local communities exercised rights of ownership, use and management over their natural resources in the Himalayan states. They devised a variety of management systems suited to their own specific situation. Sanskar (precepts and rites), sanskriti (culture and customary practices) and niti (state policy and administration) were the bases of water harvesting traditions and their longevity. Individual dharma and social customs were the necessary conditions for sustaining these traditions, while local autonomy in resource management was the critical sufficient condition.

Most of India's rural poor live in rain-fed areas where agricultural productivity is low. In Karnataka-one of India's driest states-the World Bank is helping to revive centuries-old tank systems to improve farm productivity and raise incomes. Read More

Forwarded to the Portal by: B. R. Neupane, UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) invites you to send in articles of up to three pages (about 1200 words) on traditional water harvesting structures, that link water resources management with local culture. It will select a maximum of 6 of these articles for publication in the magazine Power of Creativity, a high-quality photo-based magazine. The magazine was launched in November 2007 to promote Indian culture, creativity, and innovation in the context of sustainable development. It is a joint publication of UNESCO and the Archeological Society of India. The target audience is urban middle class Indians and the objective to make them aware of the fact that their traditions are compatible with modern, style conscious lifestyles. Power of Creativity has a print run of 5,000 copies that are circulated to the government, embassies, consulates, the tourism sector, and the corporate sector. UNESCO will acknowledge and credit the author(s). Each article must be accompanied by photographs, preferably digital, high-resolution photos and can be sent by email to b.neupane@unesco.org or nitya.jacob@un.org.in by 31 May 2009.

A model for rainwater harvesting- the Melukote system

The film highlights the problems and solutions for drinking water in drought prone districts of Tamil Nadu. Ooranis are village ponds that were engineered several centuries ago to harvest rainwater. 

Time: 14mins

'Every Drop Counts' shows how to channel rainwater and surface water to recharge groundwater via open wells. Tankas (underwater tanks) are an excellent solution to tackle water scarcity and conserve our ground water.

Courtesy- Barefoot College, Time- 11:30 minutes

Saurashtra is the peripheral region along Coastal Gujarat. It is composed of a Central basaltic plateau that rises 100 to 200m above mean sea level with an average annual rainfall of about 600 mm. The rainfall is concentrated in a few days during which the incident rainfall leads to flashfloods draining into the sea.