A Drop
of Hope for Women
All
over the world women share a special relationship with water, as a
life-sustaining resource, as a means of production, and as a cultural
idiom. ‘It is estimated that over 10 million person-years are spent by
women and female children carrying water from distant sources every
year.’ (Johannesburg Summit 2002, cited in Water Aid/WSSCC)
Supporting this fact is another study commissioned by UNICEF and carried
out by the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, 1990. The
principal collectors of water in Indian households are women, usually
between the ages of 15-35 years. They gather about 192 litres of water a
day for an average household of seven members.
Thus, the scarcity of drinking water and the impact of drought are a
crisis in the lives of poor and marginalised women due to their
gender-defined roles. These issues impact a woman’s health, time and
energy spent in collecting water, income-earning opportunities,
child-rearing capacities and social status.

India is a country with very deep historical roots and strong cultural
traditions that are reflected in our social fabric and institutions of
community life. Some of our traditions, which were developed by our
forefathers thousands of years ago, have played important roles in
different spheres of life. Most important among these is the tradition
of collecting, storing and preserving water for various uses. Our
ancient religious texts and epics give a good insight into the water
storage and conservation systems prevailing in those days. Social
scientists, historians and scholars have found that by all accounts,
there was no water problem in those days unlike today, and every
household was able to meet its minimum water requirements through these
rudimentary local measures of water collection and management. It was
this basic infrastructure that served as the foundation for building
large and powerful empires.
In India, the first major human settlement was in the Indus Valley
(3000-1500 BC) in northern and western India. There are archaeological
evidences of irrigation and drinking water supply systems from a large
number of wells with brick lining and reservoirs meant to collect
rainwater.
The Arthashastra by Kautilya gives an extensive account of dams and
bunds built for irrigation during the period of the Mauryan Empire. The
water-supply systems were well managed within the framework of strict
rules and regulations. Different types of taxes were collected from the
cultivators, depending upon the nature of irrigation.
Though the large number of reservoirs and tanks built in different times
by the kings, village communities and individuals were mainly for
irrigation, these also provided water for cattle and domestic use,
either directly or indirectly, through charging of wells.
The city of Delhi, founded in the early eleventh century, used to get
its water supply from Suraj Kund in Haryana. This water body was built
to impound rainwater from the Aravalli hills. During the Sultanate
period that followed, several cities were built in the vicinity of the
Aravallis with elaborate rainwater harvesting systems to meet the
domestic water requirements. Prominent among these is the Hauz-e-Sultani
built by Sultan Iltutmish.
In our so-called modern times, many water-harvesting structures and
water-conveyance systems specific to the eco regions and culture have
been developed. A few traditional water harvesting systems are as
follows:
Zings:
Zings were water-harvesting
structures found in Ladakh. They are small tanks in which the melted
glacier water is collected. Essential to the system is the network of
guiding channels that brings the water from the glacier to the tank. As
glaciers melt during the day, the channels fill up with a trickle that
in the afternoon turns into flowing water. The water collects towards
the evening, and is used the next day.
Ahar Pynes:
Ahar Pynes are traditional systems of artificial channels constructed to
harvest floodwater for agriculture, indigenous to south Bihar. Rivers in
this region swell only during the monsoon, but the water is swiftly
carried away or percolates down into the sand, making floodwater
harvesting through Pynes the best option.
Bamboo Drip Irrigation:
This is a 200-year-old system used by tribal farmers. Bamboo pipes are
used to tap and divert perennial springs and stream water on the
hilltops to the lower reaches through gravity. About 18-20 litres of
water entering the bamboo pipe system per minute is transported and then
reduced to 20-80 drops per minute at the site of the plant. It is used
extensively in north-eastern India.
Inundation Canals:
Such canals were once an extraordinary system existing in Bengal. The
floodwater used to enter the fields through inundation canals, carrying
not only rich silt but also fish, which swam through these canals into
the lakes and tanks to feed on the larva of mosquitoes, which helped to
check malaria in the region. The canals were long and continuous, fairly
parallel to each other and at the right distance from each other for
purposes of irrigation. The irrigation was through cuts in the banks of
the canals, which were closed when the flood had receded.
Bhanadaras:
These are check dams or diversion weirs built across rivers. It is a
traditional system found in Maharashtra and their presence raises the
water level of the rivers so that it begins to flow into channels. They
are also used to impound water and form a large reservoir. Bandharas
facilitate in harvesting rainwater that ensures the supply of water for
a few months after the rains.
Eris Tanks: Watering approximately one-third of the irrigated area of
Tamil Nadu, Eris tanks have played several important roles in
maintaining ecological harmony in the form of flood-control systems,
preventing soil erosion and wastage of runoff during periods of heavy
rainfall, and recharging the groundwater in the surrounding areas. The
presence of Eris provides an appropriate micro-climate for the local
areas.
Kund:
A kund or kundi resembles
the structure of an upturned cup nestling in a saucer. These structures
harvest rainwater for drinking, and dot the sandier tracts of the Thar
Desert in western Rajasthan. Essentially a circular, underground well,
kunds have a saucer-shaped catchment area that gently slopes towards the
centre where the well is situated. A wire mesh across water-inlets
prevents the debris from falling into the well-pit. The sides of the
well-pit are covered with (disinfectant) lime and ash. The dome-shaped
cover, which most pits have, is to protect the stored water.
It is encouraging to see the restoration of traditional water-harvesting
systems in various ecological zones of India. Communities in the face of
adversity have revived or created new water-harvesting systems. They
have made checkdams, johads, and other structures to harvest every drop
of rain. Some of them have even harvested rooftop runoffs. In many
places, these efforts have withstood the effects of recurring drought
and facilitated the easy availability of drinking water.
The various traditional and modern methods of rainwater harvesting can,
thus, provide a significant solution towards bettering the lives of
rural women and children who are otherwise occupied in the collection
and utilisation of water from far-away sources for the survival of their
households.
q
Reference:
www.rainwaterharvesting.org
http://megphed.gov.in/knowledge/RainwaterHarvest/Chap2.pdf
Malini Trivedi
mtrivedi@devalt.org
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