write a note on how people of semi arid and arid regions of Rajasthan conserve rain water
Answers
Jun '16
(i) In semi-arid regions of Rajasthan every house had underground tankas to store the water for drinking purposes.
(ii) These tankas are large and deep which were built inside the main house or the courtyard.
(iii) They were linked to the sloping roofs of the houses through a pipe. Rainwater falling on the rooftops would run down through a pipe and collect in the underground tankas.
(iv) The rainwater collected, is stored in the tankas providing drinking water till the next rainy season.
(v) When all other sources have dried up, these tankas were beneficial to beat the summer heat as they kept the rooms cool. The rainwater or palar pani, as commonly known in these parts, is considered the purest form of natural water.
In the arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan where people face the problem of scarcity of water they do rainwater harvesting by building underground tanks in the courtyard of their houses. These are traditionally big tanks and are part of the of the the well developed rooftop rainwater harvesting system. These tanks are constructed in a way that they are connected to the sloping of the roof with pipes. The rain falling in the rooftop travels down through the pipe and is collected inside the tanks. The first spell of rainfall is not collected since they are used for cleaning up the roof and pipes. During summer when all other sources of water dries up this underground tanks help the people of this region to survive.