Local people in the arid Churu district of Rajasthan know how to store sweet rainwater for the scorching, parched summers
Oasis underneath
IMPATIENT shifting sand dunes and acacia shrubs dot
the desolate landscape of Churu district, the gateway
to the Thar. Almost invariably, the highest summer
temperature is recorded here. Drinking water sources
are scarce. The wells are very deep and the water
saline. The erratic piped water supply doesn't even
meet domestic requirements. The answer, however,
has come from the suffering villagers themselves:
kundis, the underwater storage system of rainwater
harvested in the monsoon.
Kundis are covered underground tanks with a
saucer shaped artificial catchment area that gently
slopes towards the centre. Traditionally, the circular 'Rese,
catchment area was constructed using a variety of
local materials like pond silt, murram, lime, charcoal
ash and gravel. Cement, however, is fast replacing these.
"Building a good kundi is tough. The soil has to be cleared of
vegetation and the catchment area given a smooth gradient of
3 to 4 per cent towards the tank," says Ran Singh, a noted
kundi mistri (mason) from Lahsedi village.
On an average, a kundi measuring 5 rn deep, and 2.5 rn in
diameter takes 25 days to build and costs about Rs 12,000.
After the construction is complete a convex lid, locally called
bhida, is placed as a cover. Traditionally, this used to be made
from the easily available phog (Calligonum polygonoides)
wood, and plastered with mud. Now, either sandstone
or ferro-cement is used to make bhidas. The inlets are
usually protected by a wire mesh to prevent the water getting
contaminated by the debris, birds, reptiles and insects.
Official statistics put Churu's annual rainfall at 325 mm.
Kundis, therefore, have been prevalent all over the district.
"Kundis are our treasury in which we store the sweet nectar
from the heavens and quench our thirst when all other sources
dry up," says Bharat Singh Punia, a lanky farmer from Lahsedi.
Though most kundis are privately owned, some have been
built for community purposes. "Outside the village (Lahsedi),
a bania (businessperson) from Churu got a big kundi built
about 100 years ago," says Nihal Singh. It served the travellers
treading the old camel road linking Churu and Hissar. Among
the other famous community kundis is the one built in 1957 at
Dadrewa, a traditional water-stop for people travelling from
Bikaner to Churu. "Not only does it serve about
15 lakh pilgrims who throng the shrine of our warrior saint Gogaji Chauhan in the month of Shrawan (August), but also the travellers round
the year," proudly informs Sunga Ram Sharma, its caretaker.
According to one report, businesspeople and
rulers have been constructing kundis since the
beginning of 17th century for the common folk. In
1607, Raja Sur Singh of Mewar constructed a
kundi in the village Vadi Ka Melan. Then, in the
sprawling Mehrangarh fort of the "blue city",
jodhpur, a huge kundi was constructed by
Maharaja Udai Singh in 1759. During the Great
Famine of 1895-96, kundis were constructed on a
largescale basis, and since then they have spread
remarkably fast in western Rajasthan.
Although last year the village was linked to the
Rajasthan Canal, and a watertank with a capacity
of storing 10,000 litres was constructed in the village, supply remains highly erratic. During the
long parched summer the water trickles down
once a week, "Then the kundi's cool water remains
the only source to quench our thirst, while the tap
water is used to feed cattle," says Chandravati Devi.
Kundi water quenches the cattle as well. A big
kundi with a 7 m-deep tank and charcoaJ-based
catchment area was built by Sobak Singh in 1957
just outside the Nyangali village on the Churu-
Bikaner highway. It had a channel linking a small
tank outside the kundi saucer. The water was having
poured into the channel so that cattle could drink
it from the tank. Presently that channel is damaged, "because
we use the nearbysmaller kundi for our cattle, " informs Nanu
Singh, Sobak Singh's son.
In July, the joyful gathering of clouds in the sky kicks off a
spurt of cleaning activities to get the kundis ready to receive the
blessings from the gods. "No cattle is allowed to graze around
the saucer and shoes have to be kept off," says Mahendra Singh
of Nyangali. The tank is cleaned and replastered, if needed.
Even if it rains moderately in a given season, a good harvest is
ensured. With a rainfall as less as 100 to 150 mm, a kundi with
an area of 100 sq in could collect about 10,000 litre water.
The Rajasthan Canal has seen the kundis lose some of their
past eminence. Many of Nyangali's kundis lie in disrepair and
in Labsedi, only a few have come up during the last 5 years.
Yet, because the water supply is too erratic, the villagers h@ve
not given up the kundis altogether. "Now we treat it as an
alternate source of water," informs Kanwar Pal Singh of
Nyangali. But, in Dadrewa, where the water supply is a little
more regular, most households don't have kundis.
Though the government of Rajasthan had started promoting kundis for minor irrigation and drinking water purposes
from the early '70s, it has treated kundis as a supplementary
source to meet drinking water crises. With 950 villages of
Churu having been covered by the government's water supply
scheme, as the government claims, "Kundis can cater only to
limited demands," argues R N Arvind, District Collector, Churu.
Last year, the government discontinued the subsidy given
to individuals for building kundis for #ieir personal use. But
Arvind insists, "People of the district want to continue it and
the district administration too favours it." Presently a subsidy
is given to panchayats for building kundis for community use
through the Jawahar Rojgar Yojana - a programme sponsored by the Central government @tq generate additional
employment and create productive community assets in the
rural areas. For general water supply the government is bank-
ing upon Rajasthan Canal, the Rs 800 crore mega project.
Currently, kundis built by the panchayats function as pyaus
(public drinking water outlets), serving water to travellers.
Villagers are not allowed to take water for their daily use from
these kundis. "I quench the thirst of countless people every
day, but I myself have no access to this kundi's water for my -
family," says 65-year-old Mahavir Prasad Sharma of Lahsedi,
caretaker of the panchayat's kundi. Save for occasions like
marriages, the common kundi water in Nyangali too is not
available to the villagers.
Most kundis being privately owned, the poor have by and
large been deprived of this precious commodity - sweet
water. "Poor people like me have no use for the kundi. I still
depend on the saline water of the village well, and its level has
gone so far down that I get blisters on my hands pulling water
out of it," laments Dularam of Nyangali. Similarly, Ran Singh,
the mason who had started building kundis when he was barely 15, himself doesn't own any, and depends on the erratic water supply for the drinking water requirements of his family.
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