Young World Message
The Hindu : One of the important lessons to emerge in the recent past in India has been the continuing relevance oftraditional water systems. Be it the open wells all across the country, the tanks in the Bundelkhand and Southern India, the springs in the hills of the Western Ghats and the North-Eastern States, the ponds in Kerala and Manipur, the Naolas in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh, the Beris and Kua in Rajasthan and the Virdas of Kutch all represent a tradition of water smartness picked up over the ages and still relevant today.
In Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, Ramgarh taluk has the least rainfall, averaging less than 120 mm. Yet here the well in Isawal, dug over 100 years ago, provides water for more than 6000 sheep, camels and goats daily. The institution Sambhaav helped the community access materials to restore and repair the ‘Kua’ and it continues to yield sweet water. In Abdasa Taluk of Bhuj, piped water supply through deep borewells simply failed to function beyond a few years; but the traditional shallow well, when adequately silted and recharged, provides lifeline water to the community.
What is it that keeps these systems performing over the ages? It surely must be an understanding that people and society developed through a continuous process of trial and error which eventually saw the survival of the fittest technology in a way.
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