Ancient wisdom to tackle modern crisis

By going back to the culture of the open well, by using only the dynamic water table, by recharging aquifers, and by reserving the deeper aquifers for droughts and other emergencies, we can tide over problems in the era of climate change

May 06, 2016 03:46 pm | Updated May 13, 2016 04:08 pm IST

Rann of Kutch, an inhospitable terrain

Rann of Kutch, an inhospitable terrain

The summer sun is harsh in Khadirbet, an island in the Rann of Kutch. We had just passed a blazing white sea of sand as the Rann dries up to become the salt pan it is for half of the year. It is a stunningly beautiful sight in a tough arid landscape but here flourished a city in 2650 BCE, Dholavira, one of the largest of the Harappan civilisation.

It is good to travel with a hydro-geologist if you want to know about water. Yogesh Jadeja has been practising and teaching hydro-geology in Bhuj for decades. The travel to Dholavira is to understand the water system that kept it alive for centuries in what would still have been a difficult terrain.

Harvesting rainwater The ancients seem to have mastered the art of harvesting rainwater, diverting it from two ephemeral channels and then storing it in large reservoirs built on the site.

There is a well too but it is located rather strangely on the top of a ridge and is not very deep. It is amazing however to know that the civilisation knew the merit of groundwater and was adept at digging wells. Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Lothal, all the sites have shown the presence of a large number of wells.

In Bhuj itself, the group called Arid Communities and Technologies (www.act-india.org), has been working for long in understanding the traditional water harvesting and management system at Bhuj and reviving it with the help of local communities. We go to a small old well recently cleaned up by people voluntarily. With the help of the corporator, a pump has been fixed and water is now supplied through community taps to about 50 families.

Another well located in the State Reserve Police premises is being used to fill water tankers and water bottles and supply it to the police force stationed at Bhuj. Wells are alive and kicking in an area with 300 mm of rainfall. ACT is working to keep the lakes and water channels of Bhuj alive so that the wells are recharged and water available as a local resource.

In Ahmedabad, at the Sabarmati Ashram of Gandhiji, is an exquisite exhibition which displays 16 old step-wells of the city. These were magnificent structures built centuries ago to enable citizens to access water as well as provide a social, congenial space for conversation.

Step-well At Adalaj, close to Ahmedabad, is the Rudabai-ni-vav, built by Queen Rudabai in 1499. The step-well is now being maintained by the ASI. In recent times water has come back into the main well. The step-well speaks of a tradition that understood groundwater and aquifers and designed beautiful architectural space for not only the functional use of water but the aesthetics of space around water.

Modern times Photographs capturing the misery of drought show the well in its many stages of emptiness and distress… people having to climb down to its depths using ropes, empty open wells being scraped for the last dregs of water, tankers being emptied into the well and people thronging to get water from the well .

There are lessons here, for the well continues to be relevant to us as a society even after 4700 years of the Harappan civilisation. The well makes groundwater visible and rewards works with recharge such as desilting ponds. The well communicates to us the scarcity value of water and to use it wisely and well.

In many places such as Bihar, communities are coming together to clean wells.

Belgaum city in Karnataka has not only cleaned wells but integrated it with the city water supply. Kerala has a programme to recharge open wells using rooftop rainwater.

We must manage our aquifers and make sure that the wells contain enough water to tide us over summer and drought. Maharashtra considers banning borewells beyond a depth of 200 feet with a view to ensure that only the dynamic water table which is recharged annually is used.

Beyond this depth water usually takes years to infiltrate and recharge and therefore should be used in emergency and only for drinking purpose.

By going back to the culture of the open well, by using only the dynamic water table, by recharging aquifers, and by reserving the deeper aquifers for droughts and other emergencies we can hope to tide over droughts in the era of climate change. This is the water wisdom which we must learn from our ancients.

zenrainman@gmail.com

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