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Preserving water in the Desert
Netsi (district Jaisalmer in Rajasthan). It lies in the heart of the 200,000 sq km Thar desert. With an average annual rainfall of less than 16 cm (Delhi has an average rainfall of 61.7cm), it is one of the driest regions of India. To make matters worse, the groundwater here is saline, which also makes it unsuitable for agriculture.
So, how do the people here survive?...answer -> Natural water preservation!
The water preservation methods followed here are believed to have been developed by the Paliwal brahmins around 500 years ago. They were the first to notice the gypsum belt which lies below the surface of sand.
Gypsum is a non-porous element, which doesn't allow water to seep through. When raindrops fall on the surface of sand, its particles start behaving like sponge and absorb every drop of this water. Over a period of time, water gets deposited between the upper layer of sand and the lower layer of gypsum belt.
The gypsum belt, because of being non-porous, prevents it from reaching the level of the groundwater, thereby preventing it from getting saline.
Due to the extreme heat, some of this gets evaporated. However, unlike mud, sand is made up of very fine grains which aren't interconnected. Due to which, even in conditions of extreme heat, which makes the ground completely dry, cracks don't appear on the surface. As a result, moisture trapped at the lower level doesn't evaporate.
In contrast, regions of Bundelkhand and Vidharba, despite receiving much more rainfall, have very low water tables as the groundwater there evaporates due to the swelling of the land.
This storing of water between the layers by nature has been continuing for centuries. Villagers found this to be helpful and constructed small wells called kuin to extract this.
The moisture patch, when it comes in contact with the cavity of the well, gets transformed into droplets of water and starts getting accumulated inside the well. This water is then used for drinking purposes.
The popularity and dependence of these wells can be gauged from the fact that in Netsi alone, which has around 30 houses, 23 kuins exist; some of which are at least 500 years old. However, none are owned by any one person.
Farhad Contactor, whose NGO Sambhaav has been working in the maintenance of these wells says: "These wells are constructed communally and don't belong to any individual. Anyone from the village can go to any well and draw water from it irrespective of caste or community."
Developed at a cost of around Rs 10,000, these are able to provide water for centuries to come. |
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