Nadis

August 7, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN Topics

No Comments

Nadis

Subject: Geography

Section: Water Resources

Context: Rajasthan’s nadis, an insurance against a dry summer.

Concept:

Nadis or Talabs (ponds)

These are shallow depressions strewn across the rural landscape in the arid regions of Jodhpur and Barmer districts.
The water collected in these tanks will quench the thirst of cattle and human beings as well as wild animals during the dry months later in the year.
The rural communities utilise these structures for storage of rain water with the application of traditional knowledge and locally available materials in view of the highly variable and scanty rainfall in the State.
These will create micro-climates which will help improve local resilience against the vagaries of global warming and climate change.
g., (i)The Ramrawas Kalan village, situated 49 km north-east of Jodhpur has two nadis. (ii)The two bigger structures called Deoli and Chan are in Orans (associated with local deities) or sacred forest groves 10 km away from the village.

Traditional Water Conservation Systems in India:

Jhalaras	Jhalaras are typically rectangular-shaped stepwells that have tiered steps on three or four sides in Rajasthan.
Bawari	Bawaris are unique stepwells that were once a part of the ancient networks of water storage in the cities of Rajasthan.
Taanka	Taanka is a traditional rainwater harvesting technique indigenous to the Thar desert region of Rajasthan. A Taanka is a cylindrical paved underground pit into which rainwater from rooftops, courtyards or artificially prepared catchments flows.
Ahar Pynes	Ahar Pynes are traditional floodwater harvesting systems indigenous to South Bihar. Ahars are reservoirs with embankments on three sides that are built at the end of diversion channels like pynes. Pynes are artificial rivulets led off from rivers to collect water in the ahars for irrigation in the dry months. Paddy cultivation in this relatively low rainfall area depends mostly on aharpynes.
PanamKeni	The Kuruma tribe (a native tribe of Wayanad, Kerala) uses a special type of well, called the panamkeni, to store water. Wooden cylinders are made by soaking the stems of toddy palms in water for a long time so that the core rots away until only the hard outer layer remains. These cylinders, four feet in diameter as well as depth, are then immersed in groundwater springs located in fields and forests.
Kund	A kund is a saucer-shaped catchment area that gently slope towards the central circular underground well. Its main purpose is to harvest rainwater for drinking. Kunds dot the sandier tracts of western Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Zing	Zings, found in Ladakh, are small tanks that collect melting glacier water. A network of guiding channels brings water from the glacier to the tank.
Kuhls	Kuhls are surface water channels found in the mountainous regions of Himachal Pradesh.
Zabo	The Zabo (meaning ‘impounding run-off’) system combines water conservation with forestry, agriculture and animal care. Practised in Nagaland, Zabo is also known as the Ruza system. Rainwater that falls on forested hilltops is collected by channels that deposit the run-off water in pond-like structures created on the terraced hillsides.