Making water everbody's business

Making Water Everybody's Business: Practice and policy of water harvesting continues where the

book Dying Wisdom: Rise, fall and potential of India's traditional water harvesting systems finished. It documents traditions, practices and technologies, and addresses policy issues. It also assesses state government efforts to deal with drought.

The Bundelkhand region is rich in Chandela and Bundela tanks. Tanks that have been neglected and ignored as a water source. And yet, it is these tanks that are contributing to modern water supply systems. The Cholistan desert in Pakistan. Arid, with no surface water and poor quality groundwater. The inhabitants have no choice but to harvest rainwater in natural or artificial depressions called tobas. Making Water Everybody's Business looks at traditional water harvesting systems in India and elsewhere.

The communities of the villages of Bhaonta-Kolyala and Hamirpura, inhabitants of an utterly degraded region in Alwar district of Rajasthan, mobilise themselves to harvest water. The result? Rivers revive and turn perennial Travel across the world to China, Sri Lanka or Thailand, where communities are harvesting the rain to meet their water needs. True globalisation. The harvesting of a global resource where no negotiations are needed.

Making Water Everybody's Business looks at water harvesting practices across the world.

Aizawl is an overpopulated town in the hills of Mizoram. The water source is a river. Or the ample rain. The

wise have built simple systems that direct the rain falling on the roof into clean storage tanks. Water is no

longer a problem.

Cities across the world are heavily concretised. There is little scope for the rain to recharge the source of

water that these settlements overexploit: groundwater. Ironically these cities also have to deal with urban

floods during the monsoon.

Tokyo in Japan has found a solution to both. It harvests rain. Germany promotes water harvesting and taxes the people based on the water they release into drains. In Singapore, almost 50 per cent of the land area is used as a catchment. Making Water Everybody's Business looks at the practices of water harvesting in the urban scenario.

While water demands rise, the quantity of water available remains constant. And in the face of adversity, technologies develop to harvest water where such systems do not exist or to improve efficiency where they do. For instance, recharge structures can absorb more water than their designed capacity. Simply and effectively. Traditions may abide and technologies may develop. But water harvesting is more than structures. It is about people, about their mobilisation, about their willingness to participate in meeting their own water needs. It is about a proactive government that formulates policies that help rather than hinder participation. aking Water Everybody's Business looks at the innovation and developments in technology and social obilisation

The drought of 1999-2000 saw communities and state governments gear up to deal with monsoon failure. Strategies differed as did community response. king Water Everybody's Business looks at the efforts of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

message is clear for the thirsty times ahead: Water must be made everybody's business. need to look up.