Rain water harvesting
Climate play a critical role in human survival. Where there is water no matter what the physical conditions, there is life. Water has been important for the development of cultural complexity in human society during holocene and earlier. Numerous civilizations evolved along the banks of water bodies. The archaeological and historical record show many instance of complete wipe out of civilizations, attributed to a combination of social, political and economic factors but primary agent in human migration, cultural separation in above listed factor can be linked with climate change. Natural springs, river valleys and coast have remained favoured locations for both huminids and modern man.
The Indian summer monsoon, an imp. feature of tropics, is the lifeline of the people of indian subcontinent. Abrupt changes, including monsoon failure or intense monsoon rainfall {as seen in present decade} may cause havoc to human life and economic growth of one of the most densely populated regions of the world. Complex and extreme climate events such as aridity, drought, heat wave, floods, cyclones, stormy rainfall or hurricanes are expected to have a much greater impact on human society than gradual changes in climate that may generate widespread response to adapt and mitigate the sufferings associated with the extremes. Societal and cultural response to prolonged droughts include population dislocations, cultural separation and societal collapse.
The response to such extreme event could be on two line a) migration to new area with abundant water availability and less variability. b)or adopting to new strategies to optimise the utility of available water by harvesting. For e.g. response to increased aridity in the indian region over the last few millennia has given rise to traditional village tanks, pond and earthen embankments. Even after the disappearances of river saraswati due to drainage disorganization and subsequent increase in aridity, people continued to occupy the region by adapting to climate change through rain water harvesting.
Rain water harvesting matter more today than any other time in the Holocene. Faster growth of human population as compared to the increase in the amount of accessible fresh water, per capita availability of fresh water, climate change will case general intensification of earth's hydrological cycle in the next century or so, with generally increased precipitation, evapotranspiration and significance change in biogeochemical process influencing water quality. Widespread arsenic poisoning can also be dealt with rain water harvesting, where it can provide a safe drinking water for the areas where such problem is persisting and people are affected with arsenicosis and have a increased risk of cancer. Urban sprawl with haphazard planning posing a great danger to sustainability of such development and risk of cultural separation, here also rain water harvesting hold future for development.
The history of rain water harvesting as an adaptation strategy is deep rooted in India. Earliest e.g include the Havelis of Jabalpur, Bandh and Bandhi of Baghelkhand, Khadins of Rajasthan, Eri of tamil nadu.
In a world confronting local and global changes, building societal endurance of human society to absorbe shock, learn and develop would depend upon sound knowledge of historical adaptive processes that are still functional.
The Indian summer monsoon, an imp. feature of tropics, is the lifeline of the people of indian subcontinent. Abrupt changes, including monsoon failure or intense monsoon rainfall {as seen in present decade} may cause havoc to human life and economic growth of one of the most densely populated regions of the world. Complex and extreme climate events such as aridity, drought, heat wave, floods, cyclones, stormy rainfall or hurricanes are expected to have a much greater impact on human society than gradual changes in climate that may generate widespread response to adapt and mitigate the sufferings associated with the extremes. Societal and cultural response to prolonged droughts include population dislocations, cultural separation and societal collapse.
The response to such extreme event could be on two line a) migration to new area with abundant water availability and less variability. b)or adopting to new strategies to optimise the utility of available water by harvesting. For e.g. response to increased aridity in the indian region over the last few millennia has given rise to traditional village tanks, pond and earthen embankments. Even after the disappearances of river saraswati due to drainage disorganization and subsequent increase in aridity, people continued to occupy the region by adapting to climate change through rain water harvesting.
Rain water harvesting matter more today than any other time in the Holocene. Faster growth of human population as compared to the increase in the amount of accessible fresh water, per capita availability of fresh water, climate change will case general intensification of earth's hydrological cycle in the next century or so, with generally increased precipitation, evapotranspiration and significance change in biogeochemical process influencing water quality. Widespread arsenic poisoning can also be dealt with rain water harvesting, where it can provide a safe drinking water for the areas where such problem is persisting and people are affected with arsenicosis and have a increased risk of cancer. Urban sprawl with haphazard planning posing a great danger to sustainability of such development and risk of cultural separation, here also rain water harvesting hold future for development.
The history of rain water harvesting as an adaptation strategy is deep rooted in India. Earliest e.g include the Havelis of Jabalpur, Bandh and Bandhi of Baghelkhand, Khadins of Rajasthan, Eri of tamil nadu.
In a world confronting local and global changes, building societal endurance of human society to absorbe shock, learn and develop would depend upon sound knowledge of historical adaptive processes that are still functional.
