Village Water Tanks In Gujarat’s Desert Region

Abstract

Recognizing the dearth of detailed analyses of the economic and environmental performance of such systems meant exclusively for domestic uses, this article enquires into the relevance and explores possible modernization/revival of talavs (tanks) in two villages of Gujarat’s Kutch district in the Thar deserts, India’s driest region. It analyzes the pattern of water use, dependence on alternative sources and households’ willingness to pay for reviving/modernizing talavs. Cost estimates between reviving talavs and piped system have been compared. The findings suggest that talavs remain important sources of domestic water and if modernized/revived and, importantly, the ownership is vested in the local community, these can be of substantive use, especially, during summer. Hydrogeology-specific technological strategies to harness rainwater and modernize talavs need to be explored as enhanced supply per se can reduce costs significantly. In such ventures, whether and how state can intervene or shall seek private participation, both for financing and providing technical and management support, need to be explored. In case of talavs, the trickier issue has been management with community participation. Emphasizing scientific intervention in the traditional water harvesting systems, to enhance the supply, the article argues for community management as a useful strategy to protect and improvise the systems.