Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
THE TRADITION
OF “CONSERVE AND USE”
India’s spiritual ethos of reverence towards rivers ensured that
societies upheld the fundamental practice of using a resource only within
the limits of its ability to replenish itself in a short period of time. With
the rivers giving humans life-giving water, and humans, in turn, taking
care not to exploit the river to depletion, our relationship with rivers over
the ages has been one of interdependence.
The current exploitation of rivers cannot be blamed entirely on the
growth of our population or the development of our society over time.
Irrigation development can be traced back to prehistoric times in India.
Ancient scriptures refer to construction of wells, canals, tanks and dams
and their efficient operation and maintenance. 4 Evidence of the use of
irrigation to produce food grains in the Indus Valley Civilization traces
back to over 5000 years ago. Most of the water needs were met from
surface water bodies and a small section of needs were met through
shallow aquifer wells. Small construction works harnessed river water for
irrigation. In Maharashtra, 3700 year old irrigation structures have been
found. In the Mauryan period it is recorded that farmers paid taxes for
irrigation water from neighboring rivers. 5 Poems were written on palm
leaves in the Sangam period which dates back to 150 BCE - 200 CE. In the
Sangam literature one finds mentions of paddy, which was cultivated even
in those times on the banks of Thamirabarani river. It is also recorded
that irrigation in Tamil Nadu grew during the Chola and Pandya Kings’
time (750-1300 CE). 6 The grand anicut across Kaveri was built 1800 years
ago and its basic design is still in use.
The emphasis on irrigation systems were initially on run-of-theriver
schemes. It then moved on to systems of storage through manmade
tanks called eries in Tamil Nadu and kalyanis in Karnataka and the
bedis and stepwells of Rajasthan. These storage structures were built to
hold the excess water from the runoff during rainy seasons, with the
remaining water flowing into the rivers. The technologies they developed
ensured that the water cycle was closed; there were no open loops.
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