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Water Harvesting Context in The Indian Subcontinent: Anupma Sharma
Water Harvesting Context in The Indian Subcontinent: Anupma Sharma
CONTEXT IN THE
INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
Anupma Sharma
National Institute of Hydrology
Roorkee, India
The Indian Subcontinent
INDIA
SRILANKA
BANGLADESH
NEPAL
INDIA Water Resources & Population
~ 1/6th of worlds population
1/50th of worlds land
1/25th of worlds water resources
average annual pptn ~ 4000 km3 Major river basins
basinwide average annual flow in
rivers ~ 1953 km3
utilizable annual surface water ~ 690
km3
replenishable groundwater resources
~ 432 km3
India
Water Availability
large spatial & temporal variations in India
basin wise per
per-capita
capita water availability varies
from 13,393 m3/year to 300 m3/year
availability
il bili
< 1700m3 /capita/year - water stressed
< 1000m3 /capita/year - water scarce
available
il bl water/capita/year
t / it / d
decreased
d ffrom
6008 m3 in 1947 to 2384 m3 in 2000
~ 7580% of annual ppt
during four monsoon
months
Out of 8760 hrs in a year,
max ppt received ~ 100
hrs
Water Availability
70% of sw and large proportion of gw
reserves contaminated by biological,
toxic organic & inorganic pollutants
Degradation of quality in turn leads to
water scarcity as it limits water
availability for human use
Freshwater Crisis gradually unfolding in India
root causes:
Rampant pollution of fw resources
IInadequate
d t attention
tt ti t water
to t conservation,
ti
inefficiency in water use, water re-use, gw
recharge
h & ecosystem
t sustainability
t i bilit
Very low water prices (which do not
discourage wastage)
Freshwater Crisis
Water Conservation
Watershed
W t h d managementt
Water quality conservation
Inter basin water transfer
Gw management
R
Recycle
l and
d reuse off water
t
Public
ub c involvement
o e e ta and
d capac
capacity
ty bu
building
d g
Water Harvesting
Rain
R i captured
t d from
f 1 2% off Indias
1-2% I di land
l d can
provide a population of 950 million 100 litres
per person and day.
day
RWH Structure at
GW Dept., Jaipur
structure bound on
three sides by natural
slopes of the hill;
f th side,
fourth id a mud d wallll
usually semi-circular
in form holds back
the monsoon run
run-off.
off.
Role of women is important
Neglected old
AR structure in
Dadiya Village
Village,
Sikar District
Vigilant farmers
Field conditions
India
roof-water harvestingg
most effective in terms
of q
quantity
y & adequacy
q y
Sri Lanka
Only 67
67%
% of population have access to safe,
clean drinking water
water;; around 28
28,,000 children die
every year due to water related diseases.
diseases.
Gravity flow schemes operate in hill areas and
hand pumps are used in Terai region
region..
Support for geographical locations where
access of gw is difficult,
difficult and poor communities
communities..
Alternative technologies
technologies:: RWH & fog water
collection..
collection
Nepal
Meeting of user
groups
Rain Water Harvesting
For community settlements on hills, RWH is a
viable technological option; useful in rural
settlements where pressure head is not
sufficient to supply water from conventional
sources such as springs & streams.
RWH systems t usedd ini h
households,
h ld
institutional buildings & urban areas.
Nepal