Rajasthan

• 08 Jan 2024

Modern Update of Traditional Tankas

Why in News?

To battle water scarcity in the arid region, the Centre has adopted western Rajasthan's traditional rainwater harvesting system 'tankas' by constructing a large number of such storage tanks with reinforced concrete cement.

• Traditional 'tankas' are earthen rainwater storage tanks constructed by the people of Barmer district and other parts of western Rajasthan to collect water received during showers between July and September.

Key Points

• The water stored in the traditional 'tankas' gradually becomes contaminated due to its earthen structure and does not last for the entire year.
• The Centre has adopted the method under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA (Rural) scheme by constructing water storage spaces made of reinforced concrete cement to provide uncontaminated water to the people for a longer period of time.
  • A total of 1,84,766 such tanks have been constructed since 2016, with 41,580 built in the current 2023-24 fiscal.
  • Each tank, measuring 13.5 ft by 13.5 ft, has the capacity to store 35,000 liters of water and is constructed at a cost of ₹3 lakh.
  • The district has 2,971 villages, locally called 'dhannis', and respective gram panchayats are the implementing agencies.
• Other measures are also being adopted to ensure water supply to far-flung villages in the district such as the supply of water from the Indira Gandhi Canal and the Narmada Project along with the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scheme.
• The target is to reach out to 4.25 lakh households under the JJM scheme. Of these,1.25 lakh households are already covered.

The Indira Gandhi Canal

• It is the longest canal in the country.
  • It starts from Harike Barrage, a few kilometers below the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Punjab, flows through Ludhiana and terminates in the Thar Desert in northwest Rajasthan.
• The canal is a source of drinking and irrigation in the north and western Rajasthan.
  • It provides water to 1.75 crore people living in 7,500 villages across eight districts in the state.
• The water in the Indira Gandhi canal has apparently turned black due to the presence of pollutants in it.
  • The pollution has caused several health complications among people such as skin diseases, gastroenteritis, indigestion and loss of eyesight.