Water Resources and Conservation in India

Sambhar lake is the largest inland salt lake of India located 96 km southwest of Jaipur, Rajasthan. The 5700 square km lake is surrounded by Sambhar Lake Town. The source of water for the lake are rivers viz. Medtha, Mantha, Rupangarh, Samaod, Khari and Khandela.

The Wular lake is located in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a freshwater lake, the water in this lake is feed by Jhelum river. This lake is formed by tectonic activity and it is the largest fresh water lake in Asia. 

Water scarcity may be an outcome of large and growing population and consequent greater demands for water, and unequal access to it. A large population means more water not only for domestic use but also to produce more food. Hence, to facilitate higher food-grain production, water resources are being over-exploited to expand irrigated areas and dry-season agriculture. 

The Mangalam irrigation scheme is a medium irrigation project in Kerala. The catchment area of the project is 48.85 sq.km. It has two main canals - Left Bank Canal (LBC) of length 24.00 km and Right Bank Canal (RBC) of 21.50 km. The proposed ayacut of the project is 3.440 Th ha. The project commenced in 1953 and completed in the 1962.

River regulation includes construction of irrigation canals, ditches, drainage tunnels and damns. Though they have an immense utilization for the well-being of people, it has its own defects as it affects the natural flow of water. There will be changes in physical and chemical conditions, resulting in changes in animal and plant life of the river.

Mining activities often involve pumping out groundwater or altering land surfaces, which leads to a significant drop in the local water table.

Rainwater harvesting is the process of collecting and storing rainwater from surfaces like roofs for future use, especially in areas with water scarcity.

Forest and other vegetation cover slow the
surface runoff and replenish underground
water. Water harvesting is another method
to save surface runoff. Afforestation can protect the catchment areas. 

Al-Biruni was a scholar from Uzbekistan who traveled to India and wrote detailed accounts about the culture, including the sophisticated water management and pond-making skills of the people in Rajasthan.

i) In semi-arid and arid regions of Rajasthan almost all the houses traditionally had underground tanks for storing drinking water. They are extremely reliable source of drinking water when other sources are dried up. This is considered the purest form of natural water.

(ii) The tanks can be as large as big rooms.

(iii) The tanks were part of the well-developed rooftop rainwater harvesting system.

(iv) The tanks were built inside the main house or the courtyard giving cooling effect to the rooms in the summer.

 (v) Those tanks were connected to the sloping roofs of the houses through a pipe.

(vi) Rain falling on these roof tops would travel down the pipe and stored in these underground tanks.

(vii) Usually first rain water is not collected to clean the roof top and the pipe.

Rivers of Rajasthan are mostly seasonal with only two river basins (Chambal and Mahi) being perennial.

In the semi-arid and arid regions of Rajasthan, particularly in Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer, almost all the houses traditionally had underground tanks or tanks for storing drinking water.

In many regions, especially those dependent on agriculture, a deficiency in monsoon rainfall for successive years leads to drought and severe water shortages.

Chabutaras are raised platforms, often found near water bodies or in village squares, used for various community purposes including feeding birds.

            Town          River nearer to it

Gobind Sagar is a man-made reservoir situated in Bilaspur District, Himachal Pradesh. It is formed by the Bhakra Dam. The reservoir is on the river Sutlej and is named in honour of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru.