Anupam Mishra: The Ancient Ingenuity of Water Harvesting (Video)

India is a country where water shortages have become so acute that the failed monsoon rains in 2009 had people literally killing each other over buckets of water, and tensions are still rising. (See this video also.) In many places cities are receiving less than half the water their populations need to meet basic requirements, and the constant bickering between individual states often breaks down into violent clashes.

Glaciers that provide melt water in the north are disappearing. and fast. Indians are simultaneously switching to a more westernised diet, which has enormous impacts on water usage, and large scale monocrops for biofuels add to the disaster. Presently 90% of India’s water usage is for agriculture. This percentage is rising, whilst competition is increasing with the growing industrial sector. India’s population is expected to surge to 1.5 billion people by 2050, and the country is still rapidly urbanising – with city dwellers using a lot more water than their rural counterparts. It is predicted that by 2020 most major Indian cities will run dry.

And India is not alone with these problems.

Businesses, of course, are making the most of the situation to cash in on the intense demand. I think it’s time to pay attention to water harvesting words of wisdom, and solve these problems at source – and in doing so also heal the land:

With wisdom and wit, Anupam Mishra talks about the amazing feats of engineering built centuries ago by the people of India’s Golden Desert to harvest water. These structures are still used today — and are often superior to modern water megaprojects. – YouTube

Hat Tip: Robert Windt

And, for good measure:

Further Reading:

• Letters from Sri Lanka – The World’s Largest Water Harvesting Earthworks Project
• The Muffin Tin and the Sponge
• Harvesting Urban Drool
• Water Harvesting DVD
• Water Worries