briefly describe the rainwater harvesting systems that have been adopted in different parts of India
Answers
Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for reuse on-site, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater can be collected from rivers or roofs, and in many places, the water collected is redirected to a deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), a reservoir with percolation, or collected from dew or fog with nets or other tools. Its uses include water for gardens, livestock, irrigation, domestic use with proper treatment, indoor heating for houses, etc. The harvested water can also be used as drinking water, longer-term storage, and for other purposes such as groundwater recharge.
Rainwater harvesting is one of the simplest and oldest methods of self-supply of water for households usually financed by the user.
i) Guls and Kuls : People built guls and kuls in hilly and mountainous regions to divert water. These are simple channels. They are mainly used in the Western Himalayas.
(ii) Rooftop rainwater harvesting: Commonly practised to store drinking water in Rajasthan.
(iii) Inundation Channels: These channels developed in the floodplains of Bengal to irrigate fields.
(iv) Khadins and Johads: In arid and semi-arid regions, some agricultural fields were converted into rainfed storage structures. These structures are found in Rajasthan.
(v) Tankas: The tanks were built inside the main house or the courtyard. They were connected to the sloping roofs of the houses through a pipe. Rain falling on the rooftops would travel down the pipe and was stored in these underground 'tankas'. The first spell of rain was usually not collected as this would clean the roofs and the pipes. The rainwater from the subsequent showers was then collected.