IAS Prelims Preparation 2018
Day # 29 (April 21, 2017)
Topics of the day: Geography X NCERT chapter 3 key points
CHAPTER 3
Hydraulic Structures in Ancient India
• In the first century B.C., Sringaverapura near Allahabad had
sophisticated water harvesting system channelling the flood water of the river Ganga.
• During the time of Chandragupta Maurya, dams, lakes and irrigation systems were extensively built.
• Evidences of sophisticated irrigation works have also been found in Kalinga, (Odisha), Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Bennur (Karnataka), Kolhapur (Maharashtra), etc.
• In the 11th Century, Bhopal Lake, one of the largest artificial lakes of its time was built.
• In the 14th Century, the tank in Hauz Khas, Delhi was constructed by Iltutmish for supplying water to Siri Fort area.
o A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment.
o Dams were traditionally built to impound rivers and rainwater that could be used later to irrigate agricultural fields. Today, dams are built not just for irrigation but for electricity generation, water supply for domestic and industrial uses, flood control, recreation, inland navigation and fish breeding. Hence, dams are now referred to as multi-purpose projects.
o Jawaharlal Nehru proudly proclaimed the dams as the ‗temples of modern India‘; the reason being that it would integrate development of agriculture and the village economy with rapid industrialisation and growth of the urban economy.
o Narmada Bachao Andolan or Save Narmada Movement is a Non
Governmental Organisation (NGO) that mobilised tribal people,
farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the Sardar Sarovar Dam being built across the Narmada river in Gujarat. It originally focused on the environmental issues related to trees that would be submerged under the dam water.
o In hill and mountainous regions, people built diversion channels like the guls‘ or kuls‘ of the Western Himalayas for agriculture. Rooftop rain water harvesting‘ was commonly practised to store drinking water, particularly in Rajasthan.
o In arid and semi-arid regions, agricultural fields were converted into rain fed storage structures that allowed the water to stand and moisten the soil like the ‗khadins‘ in Jaisalmer and ‗Johads‘ in other parts of Rajasthan.
o In the semi-arid and arid regions of Rajasthan, particularly in Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer, almost all the houses traditionally had underground tanks or tankas for storing drinking water.
o In Meghalaya, a 200-year-old system of tapping stream and spring water by using bamboo pipes, is prevalent. About 18-20 litres of water enters the bamboo pipe system, gets transported over hundreds of metres, and finally reduces to 20-80 drops per minute at the site of the plant.
o Tamil Nadu is the first state in India which has made roof top
rainwater harvesting structure compulsory to all the houses across the state. There are legal provisions to punish the defaulters.