Traditi

onal harvesting system of rajasthanWATER HARVESTING SYSTEM IN RAJASTHAN

DEFINITION AND INTERPRETATION

Water harvesting in its broadest sense will be defined as the "Collection of runoff for its productive use". Runoff may be harvested from roofs and ground surfaces as well as from intermittent or ephemeral watercourses. Water harvesting techniques which harvest runoff from roofs or ground surfaces fall under the term:

Basically water harvesting is the accumulation and deposition of rainwater for reuse before it reaches the aquifer. Uses include water for garden, water for livestock, water for irrigation, and indoor heating for houses etc. In many places the water collected is just redirected to a deep pit with percolation. The harvested water can be used as drinking water as well as for storage and other purpose like irrigation.

HISTORY

Around the third century BC, the farming communities in Baluchistan (in presentday Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran), harvesting for irrigation. In ancient Tamil Nadu (India), rainwater harvesting was done by Chola kings. Rainwater from the Brihadeeswarar temple was collected in Sivaganga tank.[7]During the later Chola period, the Viranaam tank was built (1011 to 1037 CE) in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu to store water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Vīrānam is a 16-kilometre (9.9 mi) long tank with a storage capacity of 1,465,000,000 cubic feet (41,500,000 m3). Rainwater harvesting was done in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh in the olden days. Ratanpur, in the state of Chhattisgarh, had around 150 ponds. Most of the tanks or ponds were utilised in agriculture works

.

and Kutch (in

present-day India)

used

rainwater

ADVANTAGES

Rainwater harvesting provides an independent water supply during regional water restrictions and in developed countries is often used to supplement the main supply. It provides water when there is a drought, can help mitigate flooding...