Rainwater is a very
clean form of water. It helps to dilute the salt content, wherever
water has become salinised.
India gets an annual average rainfall of 1180mm. Still chronic
drought persists. Chirapunjee gets 11,000 mms – Kerala 3,055mm
– Tamilnadu 998 mm – Delhi 617mm – Saurashtra 578mm – Western
Rajasthan 313mm average rainfall annually. (Drought: - Anil
Aggarwal CSE)
A person needs 15 litres of water per day for cooking / drinking
needs, 35 to 40 litres for toilet need, 65 litres for bathing,
washing and other sundry needs.
Global scenario:
If the earth was the size of a egg, then all the water will
be equivalent to a drop; all the air – if condensed to the density
of water, it would be a droplet only 1/40 as big; and all the
arable land would be a not-quite-visible spec of dust. That
drop, droplet and spec are all that make the earth different
from the moon.
If we focus on this drop of water, in percentage terms 97% of
water is in the sea, 2% is locked up in the Arctic and Antarctic
Ocean and 1% is fresh water. Of this, 1%, 0.22% is in the underground
aquifer and balance 0.78% is in the lakes, rivers and ponds.
The risk that the human family is facing today is the problem
of depletion of water level and contamination of this water.
For example, Saurashtra which is reeling under the spell of
drought, receives 578mm of rainfall. If this water is conserved,
it is sufficient to irrigate the entire Saurashtra. There will
be surplus to be shared with the neighbouring districts and
states.
Water is liquid gold!”
In India, it is not the scarcity of water, but non-conservation
of the available water resource, which is our crucial problem.
India has a tradition of rain water collection that dates back
to thousands of years, which is elbowed out.
Neembi, a village in the district of Jaipur, Rajasthan was praised
for its outstanding management of rainwater and water conservation
at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
in August 2002. It all began when Rajendra Singh, the rainwater
catcher of India (Magsasay Award Winner) took the villagers
on a ‘paani yaatra’ (water tour) to another village where the
villagers had built small traditional earthen check dams called
‘johads’, which enabled re-charging of ground water. The villagers
were so convinced that they took committed steps to conserve
water. It was basically ‘self-help’ and water management that
changed the destiny of this desert village. It is for the fourth
year, Neembi has sufficient water while the rest of the state
and other parts of Northern India are facing acute problems
of water scarcity and drought. Its wells and check dams are
full of water and its farmers are harvesting three crops a year
from their lands. Now, they have water not only for their human
needs, but also sufficient for agriculture and livestock.
In many parts of rural India, an average Indian women walks
5 kms. a day to collect a pot of potable water.
Deepening of open wells & handpumps – are unsafe methods
to solve water related problems.
Conserving water and soil is an effective strategy to mitigate
drought that has been
casting a starvation spell on the people of rural India during
the last four decades.
HOW TO CONSERVE WATER
Conservation of water is made possible through Roof-Top Rainwater
Harvesting. This terminology indicates the catchment area drained
by a set of streams in such a way that all the streams originating
in this area discharge through a single outlet.
As we all know, whenever there is a rainfall, water runs. Conserving
water or storing water is a method of controlling the speed
of running water. Through the method of Conservation, we facilitate
the water not to run but to walk and stay in humanly made ponds
and bunds… The ground water table is re-charged through this…
Experiences have shown that more than 80% of rainwater is stored
in many rural communities, be it in Rajasthan or other parts
of the country.
There are various means of conserving water.
Create a structure called “Contour Trench” by which some
water is collected. (Contours are the points of equal elevation
from the mean sea level).
The soil that is removed from the trench can be utilized
as “Contour Bund” which can be used to grow fodder for the
animals.
Then there is also the system of “Gully Plugs” that help
in controlling the erosion of soil and also to reduce the
speed of running water. In plain areas “Field Bunds” and “Farm
Ponds” need to be created.
There are 2 main principles that one should keep
in mind.
They are as follows: Increase the time of Concentration of
the Run of Water, in other words delay the speed of the water
Intercept long slopes into several small ones like Table Top
Terracing, Bench Terracing, Contour Terracing.
All these forms of Terracing is also known as “Cutting and
Filling”
Watershed Management helps not only in
conserving water and soil and other natural resources, but
also helps in improving the socio- economic scenario of the
respective village community through eco-farming, social forestry,
environmental friendly income generation programmes.
Smaller catchments give much more water One dom with a catchment
of 10 hectares will collect much less water than 10 dams with
one hectare catchment each .At the family and community level,
Roof-Top Rainwater Harvesting must also be taken seriously.
In fact, many State Governments have already made it mandatory
to integrate Roof-Top Rainwater Harvesting system in the house
construction plan itself.
Caritas India has been supporting
and funding nearly 100 soil and water conservation projects
in the following states: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh, Tripura and many more. In addition, Caritas
India specially promotes self-help groups and other community
based self-reliant development and animation programmes. Children
at school and college going youth too can practice water conservation
strategies. St. Andrew’s School in Bujumnagar, Agartala already
started their effort of conserving water and soil by planting
as many saplings as possible, with a little awareness received
from Caritas India training programme. As on today, University
Grants Commission too insists that Higher Educational institutions
must select areas and implement watershed management programmes
through the participation of the rural communities.
Concrete Action plans that can be discussed
and implemented at the community, organizational and institutional
levels:
Need of the Hour Actions:
Save every drop of water – How can we do
this in our homes &communities? Catch rainwater
wherever, whenever it falls! – Who will do
this?
How will this be practiced on a sustained basis?
Give water back to the ground for recharging the groundwater
table
Arrest wastage of water at all times – What
concrete steps can families take?
Establish water committees through Self Help Groups / Mahila
Mandals
Identify the existing water resources in the village / area
Educate the community about the management of water
Develop an action to conserve water- Plant more trees, etc.
International Year of Water, 2003 Safe Drinking
Water For All
CARITAS INDIA
CBCI Centre, Ashok Place, Opp. to Goledakkhana,
New Delhi 110 001, India
Tel: 91-11-2336 3390/ 2374
2339 / 2336 2735
Fax: 91 - 11 - 2371 5146 /
2336 4788
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