Water basics

A Himachal village converts scarcity to surplus with water harvesting....

Every drop of water in Nauni,a village perched in the foothills of the rugged Solan mountains,has a sense of purpose. So when it rains,the excess water finds its way through PVC pipes to a giant storage tank,which is then harvested and goes back to the homes and fields of people.

This initiative in water harvesting has helped the 1,000-strong village tide over its perennial water crisis. Ever since the project was launched a year ago,the Nauni panchayat has managed to save 30 lakh litres of water,which now meets the needs of the villagers for more than 10 months a year.

The water harvesting system didnt involve any great engineering skill; just a traditional knowledge of rainwater collection and storage. Rainwater flowing from the rooftops and the surface is collected and drawn through a 4-inch PVC pipe to a nearby tank filled with soil and charcoal. Here,the water is allowed to remain still for a while and gets filtered before being sent to the main storage tank that has a capacity of 240 litres. From here,the water is taken to storage tanks in every household.

Though the village gets its drinking water supply from Giri Khad,a river thats barely a few kilometers away,the harvested water is being used for irrigation.

Panchayat pradhan Baldev Thakur,who came up with the idea,says,Every year,litres of rainwater go waste. If we can store even 30 to 40 per cent of this,we can meet our needs for the entire year.

The panchayat has now decided to supply its surplus water to Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry,located next to Nauni village. The panchayats initiative is commendable and we are also extending them help with crop protection,organic farming,etc, says University Vice-Chancellor K.R. Dhiman.

The water harvesting system is the latest in Nauni panchayats list of achievements. It had earlier come up with an innovative way to recycle household water. The waste water is drawn through an underground drainage system and stored in a treatment tank. This water is later used for cleaning streets and the market area. Every house in Nauni panchayat has a toilet,which has won the panchayat top awards for rural sanitation at the national and state levels.

Story continues below this ad

Thakur,the pradhan,says the village wont rest on these laurels. They have now embarked on a new initiative to electrify the villages in the panchayat through solar photovoltaic street lights,an energy saving initiative.