The recent pandemic has averted our attention from the alarming water

crisis India is facing, however the distressing problem remains. Thanks to

short attention spans, many have forgotten that 21 Indian cities ran out of
water in 2019, and that unless something radical is done, we will be forced
to face a grim reality in the future.

But what if the answer was not ‘something radical’? What if it was staring
us in the face and has been for thousands of years? What if we have simply
‘forgotten’ the solution?

Water experts across the country have been espousing the benefits of the
revival of traditional water harvesting systems—ancient wisdom that saw
our ancestors survive many a drought even in the harshest of landscapes.

Indians have had a rich history of managing water. Our forefathers

harnessed water that fell during the rainy season and stored it to meet the
needs of the community during the dry months. To do this, they used
‘traditional water harvesting systems’—a diverse range of structures that
help harvest rainwater when and where it falls, and store it—even
replenishing and recharging the groundwater along the way.

Every region in the country has its own unique traditional water harvesting
systems depending on the geography and culture of the area. Bamboo pipes
and Apatani systems (wet rice cultivation cum fish farming system) are
used in the eastern Himalayas while the Gul (traditional irrigation canals)
is used in the western Himalayas. Kund (circular underground well),
Khadin (structure designed to harvest surface runoff), Talabs (ponds),
Johad (percolation pond), and Baoli (man-made step well) are harnessed
in the Thar desert, Rajasthan and in Gujarat; while in Bihar they use
ahar-pynes (traditional floodwater harvesting system) – the list goes on.

Back in the day, the belief was that water was a communal resource to be
managed by the community for the wellbeing of all. However, during the
colonisation of India, the British replaced this dispersed, decentralised
system to manage water, with a centralised one where the Public Works
Department took control of the precious resource. As a result, people gave
up the responsibility of managing and caring for water, and instead saw it
as a resource that was ‘doled out by the powers that be’.
But these incredible structures still exist and many simply lie in disuse, in
need of restoration and repair. However, with work, they can be revived to
their former glory. Communities dotted across the country are already
taking charge of their water future, by reviving these structures, organising
themselves into ‘water management’ groups, and taking responsibility for
the water that their lives and livelihoods rely so heavily upon.

Communities in Rabriyawas in Rajasthan, which was once almost

uninhabitable due to the lack of water, is today a thriving agricultural hub
after restoration and rejuvenation of ancient nadis (village streams) which
have helped sustain life in the desert region for millennia. Village pond or
stream is one of the most ancient structures for rainwater harvesting in the
state of Rajasthan.