Long before the concept of rainwater harvesting found place in the mainstream discourse, Gendethur village in H.D. Kote taluk, Mysuru district, became the first village in south India to adopt the system to tide over water scarcity.
The concept was adopted between 2002 and 2004, with all the 157 houses in the village constructing tanks to store rainwater. Today, it is a model village that has become a case study and found place in school syllabi across the country.
The concept was initiated the Centre for Appropriate Rural Technologies (CART), and implemented by the Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (MYRADA).
U.N. Ravikumar, an environmentalist who was earlier with CART, National Institute of Engineering, told The Hindu that initially, there was reluctance to accept what then was seen as a “novel idea”. “But people were convinced of its efficacy when they saw the system deliver results. They soon signed up,” he said.
Each household has a tank of 5000 litres capacity and the water is used exclusively for drinking and cooking in order to tide over the peak dry season from February to April. The last rain to lash the region is normally in October. The households use the stored water judiciously and it usually lasts till April.
