Rainwater harvesting - methods of rainwater harvesting in different places in Rajasthan, India

What is rainwater harvesting? Discuss the various methods of rainwater harvesting in hilly, floodplains and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan (India)


ANS. Rainwater harvesting means collecting rainwater for various purposes to be used in the future.

Rajasthan is the driest state in India. Rajasthan is a state in India which is mostly desert, receives the least amount of rainfall and suffers from acute water scarcity throughout the year. People in Rajasthan devised different methods to harvest and collect the rainwater.

1. In hilly regions of Rajasthan like Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer, almost all houses have underground tanks called Tankas in which people collect rainwater for drinking purposes.

2. In the floodplains of Rajasthan, many people collected rainwater from the rooftop for drinking purposes.

3. In semi-arid regions of Rajasthan such as in Jaisalmer, people collect rainwater in their agricultural fields through a technique called Khadins or Johads. Khadins are underground storage structures into which rainwater is stored for irrigation.
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Rainwater harvesting in Rajasthan India
Rooftop rainwater harvesting technique   | image: Middletrinitygcd

Rainwater harvesting in other parts of India

Western Himalayas

In the hills and mountainous regions of Western, Himalayas people construct diversion channels called Gul of Kul to irrigate agricultural land.

Karnataka

In Gendathur village near Mysore in Karnataka, people in the village collected a minimum of 50,000 litres annually simply by harvesting rainwater from the rooftops.

Meghalaya

Though Meghalaya is known as the home of the clouds and the rainiest place on earth, many places do suffer from water scarcity. In Shillong, the capital of the state, every house in the city practised rooftops rainwater harvesting. People could meet up to 20% - 30% of water requirements by harvesting rainwater from the rooftops.

Benefits of rainwater harvesting

  1. Increase the availability of water.
  2. Rainwater can be used for domestic and agricultural purposes.
  3. Recharge the declining underground water table.
  4. Environment friendly
  5. Prevent the loss of soil due to water erosion.

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