Eris waters approximately one third of the irrigated land in Tamil Nadu. It has played several important roles in maintaining ecological harmony like flood control systems, preventing soil erosion and wastage of run off during periods of heavy rainfall and recharging the ground water in the surrounding areas. Paddy cultivation would have been impossible without eris. Its presence provides an appropriate micro climate for the local areas. Manyams which were assignments of revenue free lands were made to support village functionaries who were to maintain and manage eris. Due to these allocations the eri upkeep through regular desilting and maintenance of sluices, inlets and irrigation channels were ensured.
Ponds constructed by the Bodo tribes of Assam to harvest water for irrigation are called Dongs. They are individually owned with no community involvement.
People cannot depend directly on surface water in Kasaragod district in the northern Malabar region of Kerala. In this terrain there is high discharge in rivers in the monsoon and low discharge in the dry months. Therefore people in this region depend on groundwater and on a special water harvesting system called surangam. Surangam is a horizontal well mostly excavated in hard laterite rock formations. Until a good amount of water is struck the excavation is continued. The water seeps out of the hard rock and then flows out of the tunnel and is collected in an open pit constructed outside the surangam. A number of vertical air shafts are provided if the surangam is very long to ensure atmospheric pressure inside.
In Kerala also a number of methods are used for rain water harvesting. Builders ensure that the Cochin apartments are installed with a rain water harvesting system to use maximum water received in the form of water.
Mon May 26, 2014 5:09 pm by CreativelyCarol
