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The special arrangement of water flow made by any main river and it’s tributaries is called drainage system.

Many types of water resources are found in every region of Rajasthan. In ancient time water was supplied to the people from these resources and well maintained. The then rulers did many efforts of water collection and conservation. Efforts were made by Ranas of Udaipur. Lake of Jaismand is a good example of it.

It was built by the Maharana of Mewar Jai Singh, from 1687-1691 A.D. on river Gomati. Which is considered as the world’s largest man-made lake freshwater. The examples of the oldest methods of the conservation of water by turning and joining rivers and lakes can be seen in Mewar Chickalwas canal. It was built by Maharana Fateh Singh by building a dam on river Ahad to supply excess water of rainy season in Fateh Sagar. It is 6 km away from Udaipur. In this way 118 years ago water of Ahad river was reached to Fateh Sagar.

The serialy built ponds in 470 km are spread in valley area and join rivers by the then rulers in people’s interest. It is an excellent and praiseworthy work in the field of water collection and conservation which is being continue smoothly even today. The best example of water management resources in ancient times in the world can be seen in Udaipur Basin. To quote some of them as Govardhan Sagar, Dhood Talai, Pichhola lake, Amar Kund, Kumaria pond, Ranga Sagar Swaroop Sagar and Fateh Sagar. During the rainy seasons when all these water sources are filled to the brim, their water level gets merged.

Confluence of Banas, Bedach and Menal located near Bigod (Bhilwara) is called Triveni of Rajasthan.

Conservation of Water means preserving available resources safely. In other words, conservation of resources means careful management and keep of the available resources so as to act as a check on their unnecessary exploitation. Water conservation has become most essential because it sustains the human, animal and vegetation plant life. It is essential for industries, environmental and recreational conditions.

Ways to conserve water resources:

If following steps are taken by the citizens, society and administration can help in the conservation and management of water resources:

(i) Taking care not to throw domestic and industrial wastes in the water resource., much as wells, tanks, rivers etc. 

(ii) Not bathing and washing in or near the water resources. 

(iii) Removing unnecessary vegetation growth in and around the water bodies. 

(iv) Redistribution of water by diverting water through canals from the high rainfall areas to the scarce rainfall or drought areas. 

(v) Other means can be accumulation of water, population control, application of advanced technology for irrigation, tree- plantation, recycling of water and careful uses of underground water.

Chambal River Valley Project is a joint project of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Total four dams have been constructed under this project, one is in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, known Gandhi Sagar Dam and the other three are in Rajasthan, as Rana Pratap Sagar in Chittorgarh district, and Jawahar Sagar and Kota Barrage Dams in Kota district. The Chambal project generates hydro-electricity for both the states and facilitates irrigation.

The fluctuation of annual rainfall in the country will mostly lead to scarcity of water in urban areas and drought in some areas if the amount of rainfall reduces and in case of increase will lead to floods in most of the areas where there is no proper water management system.

With the farmers shifting to water intensive and commercial crops, irrigation has changed the cropping pattern of many regions. Apart from transforming the social landscape, i.e., increasing the social gap between the rich and the poor, it has also salinized the soil.

As people wanting different uses and benefits from the same water resources, it gave rise to many conflicts. Farmers were agitated and almost caused a riot in Gujarat, the Sabarmati-basin, over the higher priority given to water supply in urban areas, particularly during droughts. With regard to sharing the costs and benefits of the multi-purpose project, inter-state water disputes are also becoming common.

Overexploitation of water by the societies in urban areas and by the industries have led to the diminishing levels of groundwater. Adoption of rainwater harvesting techniques by societies is one of the best solutions for such diminishing water levels

(i) In the first century BCE, Sringaverapura near Allahabad had a sophisticated water harvesting system which could channel the flood water of river Ganga.

(ii) During his reign Chandragupta Maurya, constructed many lakes, dams and irrigation systems. The most notable example is the Sudarshana lake.

(iii) Sophisticated irrigation works are also found in Kalinga (Odisha), Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Bennur (Karnataka), etc.

(iv) One of the largest artificial lake was built in Bhopal in the 11th century.

(v) In the 14th century, Iltutmish constructed the tank in Hauz Khas, Delhi to supply water to the Siri Fort area.

Palarpani is the reference used for rainwater in Rajasthan.

(1) In Western Himalayas people build diversion channels like `guls”or’

(2) In arid and semi-arid regions, agricultural fields were converted into rain-fed storage structures.

(3) These allowed the water to stand and moisten the soil like the shadings’ in Jaywalker and `Jihads’ in other parts of Rajasthan.

Five techniques of rainwater harvesting in India are as under:

(1) In hill and mountainous regions, people built diversion channels like `gulls’ or lulls’ for agriculture.

(2) Rooftop rainwater harvesting is practiced to store drinking water in Rajasthan.

(3) In flood plains of Bengal, people developed inundation channels to irrigate their fields.

(4) In arid and semi-arid regions, agricultural fields were converted into rain fed storage structures that allowed the water to stand and moisten the soil like shadings’ and `Jihads’ in Rajasthan.

(5) Rooftop rainwater is collected using PVC pipes into the wells. The water thus collected can be used for various purposes.

Rooftop harvesting

A village in Mysore (Gendathur) have adopted the rainwater harvesting system in households’ rooftop to meet their water needs. It has earned the rare distinction for rainwater harvesting system. Nearly 200 households have adopted this technique.

22%

Industrialisation in India has led to more demand for water and electricity. Most of the electricity to the industries is supplied by the hydroelectric power. 22% of electricity is produced by the hydroelectric power plants in India today.

Since time immemorial, people were aware of the importance of preserving the natural resources like water. Hence, they devised techniques to harvest rainwater, river water, groundwater, and flood water while maintaining the ecological conditions with their water needs.

(i) In hilly and mountainous regions, people built diversion channels, for agriculture, like the ‘guls’ and ‘kuls’ in the Western Himalayas.

(ii) To store drinking water, especially in Rajasthan ‘Rooftop rainwater harvestin’ was practiced.

(iii) In the flood plains of Bengal, to irrigate the fields inundation channels were developed.

(iv) Agricultural fields in the arid and semi-arid regions, were converted into storage structures that allowed rain water to collect and moisten the soil examples are the ‘Khadins’ in Jaisalmer and Johads and Tankas in other parts of Rajasthan.

Three hydraulic structures of ancient India are as under

(1) In the first century B.C. Sringaverapura near Allahabad had sophisticated water harvesting system channeling the flood water of the river Gang.

(2) During the time of Chandragupta Maura, dams, lakes and irrigation systems were extensively built.

(3) Sophisticated irrigation works have also been found in Kalong (Odessa), Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Banner (Karnataka), Kolhapur (Maharashtra), etc.

(4) In the 11th century, Bhopal lake, one of the largest artificial lake of its time was built.

(5) In the 14th century, the tank in Haul Khans, Delhi was constructed by Iltutmish for supplying water to Sire Fort area.

Advantages:

(i) These are the main source of power generation.

(ii) They provide us neat, pollution free and cheapest energy which is the backbone of industry and agriculture.

(iii) These projects control the floods because water can be stored in them. These projects have converted many, rivers of sorrow’s into ‘rivers of boon'.

(iv) These projects are the main source of irrigation and also help in conserving soil.

Disadvantages:

(i) Due to the construction of dams, there are no adequate floods in the river. Because of this, the soil of the downstream region does not get nutrient-rich silt.

(ii) Dams also fragment rivers making it difficult for aquatic fauna to migrate for spawning, i.e., to produce eggs.

(iii) It resulted in the displacement of local communities. The local people often have to give up their land and livelihood and their meagre access and control over resources for the greater need of the nation.

Groundwater is a highly overused resource because of the following reasons:

(i) Due to large and growing population and consequent greater demands for water and unequal access to it.

(ii) To facilitate higher food grain production for a large population, water resources are being overexploited to expand irrigated areas and dry season agriculture.

(iii) In the housing societies or colonies in the cities, there is an arrangement of own groundwater pumping devices to meet water needs.

2.5%

Fresh water is the water that can be used by living beings such as water for drinking, irrigation etc. Three-fourth of the world is covered with water.2.5 % of the total water available on the earth's surface is fresh water which can be used by living beings.

The Mettur dam is one of the largest dams in India situated in Salem district in Tamil Nadu. The dam was constructed across the Cauvery River in 1934.

Krishna-Godavari dispute was due to the objections raised by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It was regarding the diversion of more water at Koyna river which a tributary of Krishna river for a multi-purpose project. This reduced down-stream flow of river Krishna in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh resulting in adverse consequences for agriculture and industry. The multi-purpose river valley project on Krishna river is Nagarjuna Sagar dam.

(i) Collection and storage of rainwater for direct use.

(ii) Ground water recharging.

The three major reasons why rainwater harvesting is better than the multipurpose project is:

(1) Surveys show that Multipurpose projects could not meet the goal it was made for.

(2) Rain harvesting is socio-economically better.

(3) Also, environmentally it is a good alternative.

(1) The population of India is growing rapidly and demands its food security the government introduced schemes to the farmers to grow food crops twice or thrice a year.  Earlier, the farmers depended on rainfall in the monsoon season for their yearly productive With failure in rain, they used to suffer a lot. Now-a-days farmers can take loan and use pumps to irrigate their land. Over and over irrigation to get good returns and using of fertilizers to retain the soil fertility, they, in turn, make the land exhausted and thus, the ultimately production is suffering.

(2) On the other hand on the event of drawing more and more water from the underground sources, the water table is also getting dried up. The fertilizer mixed water contaminates the canals and other water bodies.

(1) Farmers shift to water intensive and commercial crops.

(2) This leads to Stalinization of the soil.

(3) This has transformed the social landscape and increasing gap between richer land owners and landless poor.

Irrigation has changed the cropping pattern of many regions, due to the construction of dams in the following ways :

(i) The farmers have shifted water-intensive and commercial crops.

(ii) It has changed the ecology by salinisation of the soil.

(iii) It has increased the social gaps between the rich land owners and the landless poor.

Irrigation has changed the cropping pattern of many regions, due to the construction of dams in the following ways :

(i) The farmers have shifted water-intensive and commercial crops.

(ii) It has changed the ecology by salinisation of the soil.

(iii) It has increased the social gaps between the rich land owners and the landless poor.

(i) Bamboo Drip Irrigation system is a 200 year old system of tapping stream and spring water by using bamboo pipe and transporting water from higher to lower regions through gravity.

(ii) Features:

(a) 18-20 liters of water enters the bamboo pipe system, get transported over hundreds of meters and finally reduces to 20-80 drops per minutes at the site of the plant.

(b) The flow of water into the pipes is controlled by manipulating the pipe positions.

The need for water is increasing day by day due to growing population, intensive industrialisation and urbanisation.

(i) A large population means more water is required not only for domestic use but also for increasing food production. To increase food production, water resources are over-exploited to increase the area under irrigation and dry season agriculture. Some of the rich farmers have their own wells in their farms for irrigation to increase food production. This in turn has resulted in lowering of groundwater levels, which affects water availability.

(ii) Multinational companies are the heavy users of freshwater for power, which puts tremendous pressure on water resources. Moreover, multiplying urban centres with large and dense populations and urban lifestyles have not only added to water and energy needs but have further aggravated the problem.

(iii) In cities or housing colonies, they have their own groundwater pumping devices to meet their water needs, resulting in over-exploitation and depletion of water resources in many cities.

Depletion of fresh water in India is taking place gradually due to increase in population, urbanisation, agriculture modernisation and unaccounted demand for water. Deforestation is indirectly a reason for scarcity in India.

Flood control

Tankas or tanks were used by many villages in Rajasthan for storing water. They were very large and could store large quantities of water. They were 6.1 meters deep, 4.27 meters long and 2.44 meters wide. Apart from that, they provided relief during peak summers.

Sabarmati -basin

The Sabarmati-basin farmers had agitated because the water supply was provided to urban areas even at the time of drought and it became difficult for them to irrigate.

Johads, Khadins, Tankas

(i) Don’t over-use water.  

(ii) Turn the tap off, when it is not in use.  

(iii) Reuse kitchen water for gardening.

Interstate water disputes take place when either of the states is dependable on water resource and the needs for water are not satisfactory in either of the villages and are suffering from water scarcity. One of the examples is the Kaveri water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

(1) Water scarcity: Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demand for water usage within a region.

Reasons behind water scarcity in India  

The water scarcity is mostly man made due to excess population growth and mismanagement of water resources. Some of the major reasons for water scarcity are:

(a) Inefficient use of water for agriculture. India is among the top growers of agricultural produce in the world and therefore the consumption of water for irrigation is amongst the highest. Traditional techniques of irrigation causes maximum water loss due to evaporation, drainage, percolation, water conveyance, and excess use of groundwater. As more areas come under traditional irrigation techniques, the stress for water available for other purposes will continue. The solution lies in extensive use of micro-irrigation techniques such as drip and sprinkler irrigation.

(b) Reduction in traditional water recharging areas. Rapid construction is ignoring traditional water bodies that have also acted as ground water recharging mechanism. We need to urgently revive traditional aquifers while implementing new ones.

(c) Sewage and wastewater drainage into traditional water bodies. Government intervention at the source is urgently required if this problem is to be tackled.

(d) Release of chemicals and effluents into rivers, streams and ponds. Strict monitoring and implementation of laws by the government, NGOs and social activists is required.

Narmada Bachao Andolan and Tehri Dam Andolan

(1) Advantages of dams: 

(i) Irrigation.

(ii) Electricity generation.

(iii) Flood control.

(iv) Recreation.

(v) Water supply for domestic and industrial uses.

(vi) Inland navigation and fish breeding.

(1) Reasons of water scarcity: (i) Urbanization. (ii) Industrialization. (iii) Over-exploitation of water resources. (iv) Growing population.

(2) Ways to control water scarcity: (i) judicious use of water. (ii) Rain water harvesting. (iii) Digging new ponds and tanks. (iv) Cleaning of existing ponds and tanks. (v) Keeping the flow of river undisturbed. (vi) Keeping water resources clean and pollution-free.

(1) Industries use water and also require power to run them. Much of this energy comes from hydro-electric power.

(2) Today in India hydraulic power contributes approximately 22% of total electricity produced, depleting the ground level.

(3) Industrial waste pollutes rivers and lakes at a rapid pace.

(4) Industries are heavy users of water for various processes to be conducted by machines.

(5) Water is used as a major coolant for machines.

(1) Industrialization: Industries are heavy users of water. They also require energy to run machines. Much of this energy comes from hydro-electric power.

(2) Urbanization: 

(I) Multiplying urban centers with large and dense populations and urban lifestyles have not only added to water and energy requirements but also have further aggravated the problem.

(ii) Most housing societies have their own groundwater pumping devices to meet their water needs. This leads to depletion of underground water.

Post independent India witnessed intensive industrialisation and urbanisation.

(i) Arrival of MNC’s: Apart from freshwater they require electricity which comes from hydroelectric power.

(ii) Multiplying urban centres with large and dense populations and urban lifestyles have not only added to water and energy requirements but have further aggravated the problem.

(iii) Large-scale migration from rural to urban areas is causing over-exploitation of water resources.

Chakra Nan gal Dam is built on the river Sutlej.

Post independent India witnessed intensive industrialisation and urbanisation.

(i) Arrival of MNC’s: Apart from freshwater they require electricity which comes from hydroelectric power.

(ii) Multiplying urban centres with large and dense populations and urban lifestyles have not only added to water and energy requirements but have further aggravated the problem.

(iii) Large-scale migration from rural to urban areas is causing over-exploitation of water resources.

Sadder Samovar Dam is built on the river of Narmada.